Bus shelter drama sparks safety fears

It was the second time the shelter has collapsed in only five months after being clipped by a bus. In June, an elderly woman also needed hospital treatment after an identical incident.

The shelter, opposite the police station on Portobello High Street, shattered when the mirror of a double-decker Lothian bus clipped its cantilever roof.

The young man, believed to have been in his early 20s, was waiting for a bus after attending the Orcadia Creative Learning Centre in Windsor Place.

Fiona Paul, manager of Kitcheners Delicatessen, which is next to the bus stop, said: "There were customers in here having lunch and we just heard a really loud bang. I looked out and saw the collapsed bus shelter, with glass everywhere, and someone underneath the rubble.

"My first instinct was to grab for the phone to call for an ambulance because it looked really bad, but the police had already rushed out of the police station to attend to him.

"There was a lot of blood around his ears and it looked quite bad. But in the end he was OK by the time an ambulance arrived."

Although there was another individual standing at the bus stop, they were not injured and required no treatment.

Another eyewitness, Sharon Mackenzie, who lives in Portobello High Street, said: "It was a massive noise and I thought right away that it was something much more serious.

"I'm still shocked because it was such a bad noise it made.

"I certainly won't be standing under one of these shelters ever again and I'll want to make sure my children don't either."

Allan Jackson, the Conservatives' transport spokesman at Edinburgh City Council, said: "If this is the second occasion within six months that this has happened at the same location then perhaps more investigation is required.

"It may be that buses are coming in too closely or that there's a dip in the road, but if people's safety is at risk at this stop then it should be looked into."

Edinburgh City Council said it would investigate why it had happened twice in five months. A spokeswoman said: "While we consider the shelter design and site to be fine, there are concerns that it is the second time in a year that this has happened and will investigate the matter in conjunction with Lothian Buses."

The council was unable to say how many shelters of similar design were located throughout the Capital.

Ian Cooper, a spokesman for Lothian Buses, said the vehicle's mirror had only glanced the shelter, causing it to collapse. He added: "Nobody was injured and we are co-operating fully with police and Edinburgh City Council in helping them carry out the official investigation."

A police spokesman said: "The young male had a knee injury and did not require hospital treatment.

"An ambulance that happened to be passing by stopped and paramedics helped treat him.

"He had only minor injuries and was cleaned up at the police station opposite."