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A Stratford mother is furious after an coach driver left her 15-year-old son midway through a North Island bus trip during a toilet break.

The bus company has admitted responsibility and apologised, describing the incident as a “distressing situation”.

The passenger has been offered a full refund of the ticket and the bus company says it is committed to resolving the matter.

Martha, who did not want her last name published, told the Herald her son had been on a coach trip from Hamilton to yesterday afternoon.

“They normally stop in during the trip, but apparently they stopped in Te Kuiti and nobody got off the bus because they were picking someone up,” she said.

“They stopped in Piopio about 1.15pm and the bus driver said this was the toilet break and don’t be long.

“There were 10 to 15 people in the line to go to the bathroom. He was the one at the back of the line.”

Fifteen minutes later, she received a text from her son saying the bus had left him behind and his bags were still on the bus.

The Stratford resident rang Intercity to tell them her son had been left in the small town, but she claimed they had “no urgency, no care, and all they said they could offer was a refund”.

Martha made a four-hour round trip from  to Piopio to pick up her stranded son.

They were initially unable to retrieve his luggage with his laptop and clothes.

“I rang them up and said, ‘You left my son there, what do we do about the bags? They said you can pick them up from between 4pm and 7am the next day’,” she said.

“Obviously we couldn’t be there by 4pm when the bus got there because we had to go and pick him up. We didn’t get back to New Plymouth until about 6.30pm.

“The bus stop was closed. We don’t know where his bags are.”

InterCity chief operating officer Sam Peate said customer safety and care were the company’s highest priorities.

“We sincerely apologise for the incident involving one of our passengers, who was left behind in Piopio.

“We understand it was a distressing situation for them.”

Peate said while Piopio was not a scheduled toilet stop, the driver stopped to pick up a passenger. Four passengers alerted the driver and got off to use the toilet.

While the driver was assisting with luggage, the fifth passenger also left the bus. As the driver was unaware of this passenger leaving the bus, the passenger was left behind, he said.

“We are very sorry, and we have explained the circumstances and apologised to the family.”

Peate said InterCity’s policy was to only conduct headcounts at scheduled rest stops, as passengers were asked to let the driver know if they were leaving the bus.

The customer care team had been in contact with the passenger’s parents to offer apologies and a full refund of the ticket.

David Williams is an Auckland-based Multimedia Journalist who joined the Herald in 2023. He covers breaking news and general topics.