BUS-USERS who have called for years for a shelter to ease their journeys were left mystified when council officials finally installed one - on the wrong side of the road.

Residents of Stewards Green Road, Epping, had been looking forward to using a new shelter while they wait to catch the bus into town.

But Essex County Council has installed a wooden shelter on the opposite side of the road by the stop to Coopersale, which nearby householders claim is a route never taken.

Brian Smith, 69, of Stewards Green Road, said: “Nobody goes to Coopersale, everyone goes Epping way. It's ridiculous. They spend all that money, and it looks nice, but nobody's going to use it.”

His wife Molly Smith said: “It should be this side of the road when people are going to Epping. We've been here a few years and we did call for a bus shelter. Can't we at least have one of those frames with a bit of perspex going over - just a bit of shelter? When the wind blows across it gets in your back.”

A spokeswoman for Essex County Council said: “The provision of a new bus shelter was included as part of the planning consent for Coopersale Hall School.

“When no suitable location could be found on the southern side of Stewards Green Road due to the width of the verge and location of a ditch, the decision was taken to install the shelter on the northern side of Stewards Green Road, for the benefit of local school children and residents.”