Shopkeepers June and Martin Seed are fuming over bus drivers leave their engines running outside their home.

They say about half the buses which stop at the terminus opposite their shop and flat in Green End, Clayton, fail to switch off while they are waiting. That means they have to put up with engine noise and exhaust for up to a quarter of an hour at a time.

Mr and Mrs Seed have had problems with buses belching out fumes since they started running Clayton Village Motor Spares 14 years ago.

"If it's warm, quite often we will take out lunch and go outside and it's just not very nice if you've got a bus right opposite pouring fumes out," said Mrs Seed. And when they moved into the flat above the shop last year problems really started to mount up.

"Our bedroom is at the front and if they don't switch their engines off it's really noisy - and they start from six in the morning," said Mr Seed.

The terminus is used by buses travelling on First Bradford's 637 route between Bradford and Clayton. Mr and Mrs Seed have tried putting up notices asking drivers to switch off and have timed how long buses wait with the engines on, which can be anything from three to 14 minutes. Mr Seed said: "Some buses are worse than others. There's one in particular which must be an old one. It's really noisy and it doesn't half blow out some muck."

The couple have complained to the bus company and been told that any drivers who do not turn off their engines while waiting could face disciplinary action.

Mrs Seed said things had improved slightly since they had been in touch with First Bradford.

"What I can't understand, though, is if one driver can do it, why can't all of them?" she said.

Brandon Jones, marketing officer for First Bradford, said today: "I'm disappointed to note Mr and Mrs Seed's comments regarding bus engines which have been left running unnecessarily, as our drivers have been advised that such incidents are not acceptable. If they provide details we will be pleased to investigate to ensure these incidents are not repeated."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.