A bus service trial impacted by roadworks and timetable mishaps has been branded a “disaster” less than two weeks since its launch.

The 477 service, which starts in Orpington and goes through Swanley, cut its full service in October 2022 and only travelled to Dartford.

This meant it no longer continued on to Darent Valley Hospital and Bluewater Shopping Centre.

Since these stops were axed, Sevenoaks MP Laura Trott has been working with local councillors to encourage bus operator Arriva to reconsider its decision.

Following a meeting, the firm agreed to a six-month trial which started on Monday, July 29. These services are running off-peak.

However, Heather Wellbelove, who lives in Swanley and used the service on the first day, has branded it a “disaster”.

The Dahlia Drive resident said: “I had a good experience getting there but it was a disaster getting back to Swanley.

“The bus arrived at 12pm and was due to leave at 12.25pm.

“At 12.10, the bus left Bluewater without stopping to pick up passengers.

“We had to wait for the next bus at 1.25pm and this included passengers waiting for the 12.25pm bus and others arriving for the 1.25pm bus.

“Most passengers were elderly and I had my two grandchildren with me.

“Passengers along the route had been waiting for the earlier bus in the hot sun without anywhere to sit. Not a good start to this trial.”

Another woman who was waiting for the bus in Lowfield Street, Dartford said the driver was using a different timetable to the one provided by Arriva online, meaning she had to wait around 45 minutes for the next bus.

Currently, between Monday and Friday, the 477 makes five journeys daily to the hospital and Bluewater, and seven back towards Orpington.

However, if you want to leave Bluewater and miss the 1.25pm bus, the next available service is not until 4.45pm.

On Saturdays, this service is more frequent and has 10 buses running to the shopping centre, and nine back the other way. The last service runs at 5.35pm towards Swanley.

However, many people in the ‘Save the 477’ Facebook group have said that although the bus is reliable and could do with being more frequent, it has been “completely full” on several occasions, sparking hope for its future.

At the start of July, Swanley’s Neighbourhood Plan was approved, which identified transport as a big concern for people living in the town.

MP Laura Trott says she has been raising issues reported to her to Arriva directly.

She added: “I was delighted that Arriva agreed to the six-month trial of the 477 to Bluewater and Darent Valley Hospital and I am sorry to hear there have been some initial teething problems.

“I have raised with Arriva the comments which have been raised with me by residents and am awaiting a detailed response.

“It is vital that this service is reliable in order to encourage residents to use it”.

A spokesperson for Arriva South said: “We are doing our best to operate the 477 as reliably as we can.

“However, we do rely on the roads we serve being open, and the traffic flowing on them normally.

“There are a number of diversions in place at the moment due to roadworks and sometimes traffic congestion on the M25 has a knock-on effect on the 477, and our buses are stuck in the delays, just as other road-users are.

“We were made aware of one issue where a driver left a stop early and we have taken appropriate action to ensure that this isn’t repeated. This was an isolated incident.”