A bus passenger who uses a mobility scooter has been left waiting two months more than she should have for a permit that allows her on the bus.

Lorraine Harris, 51, of Hill End Lane, St Albans, currently relies on the scooter to get her out and about, including to important medical appointments, such as at Mount Vernon and St Albans City hospitals.

She has been using the scooter for four months and says she is unable to walk or put pressure on her knee.

Ms Harris, who doesn’t drive, said she was surprised when she was told by an Arriva bus driver she wouldn’t be allowed on with her scooter unless she had a permit so on September 5, she applied for one.

She was told she would receive a permit within six weeks.

Fast forward to mid-December and Ms Harris remains without a permit.

She said: “I never knew I needed one but I asked for one straight away when I realised I did. But I’m not getting anywhere. I’ve been left out in the cold at bus stops for around an hour sometimes because I've been refused entry. They should have at least given me a temporary card.”

Ms Harris rang Arriva up in November and was effectively told no progress had been made but the company were aware. When she rang up earlier this week, she was told the person responsible was on holiday and the matter had been passed on to someone else.

She added: “Sometimes the drivers have let me on but I was made to feel unwelcome. They were quite rude. Other bus companies don’t have this policy.”

Ms Harris does have the option of using a different operator but says the Arriva service means she does not have to get two different buses to complete her journey to hospital appointments.

Arriva has apologised for the delays in issuing the permit.

A spokesman for the operator said: "We sincerely apologise for the delay in getting the permit to the passenger and the inconvenience it may have caused. We are looking into our internal processes to ensure this doesn't happen again going forward and we are arranging with the passenger in question to provide a permit."