Richard Lucraft says the bus stop is very important for many living nearby

“WHERE’S our bus stop gone?”

That was the question on the lips of residents living near a bus stop on Holloway Road which vanished two weeks ago – after Transport for ­London removed it.

While TfL insist a full consultation was carried out about their plans to take away the bus stop, near the junction of Drayton Park and Holloway Road, consultation documents seen by the Tribune state their removal would only be temporary.

Richard Lucraft, who has lived in nearby Witherington Road for more than 35 years, said: “That corner is a very important node point, because it leads to a lot of housing and social housing on both sides of the Holloway Road. And that housing contains old people and disabled people and mothers and children. They’re going to have a hard time.”

The bus stops have been removed or temporarily closed to make way for improved pedestrian crossings.

When contacted by this newspaper, TfL admitted they had taken the bus stop away permanently after they were unable to find a suitable site to relocate it – but neglected to tell the community.

The bus stop across the road is closed despite no works going on

Residents are outraged that there are no plans to reinstate the bus stop when the current cycle of work being carried out at that junction comes to an end.

Mr Lucraft – who found out from journalists the bus stop was not coming back – said the decision was “ridiculous”, and questioned the common sense behind it.

The retired publisher, who used to specialise in art prints, takes a bus once a week to Highgate for his history class at the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution. From his home, he will now need to walk half a mile to get to the next nearest stop by London Metropolitan University.

He praised the “kindness” of many bus drivers who were continuing to stop for passengers at the “ghost” stop – despite there being no clue it ever existed apart from the painted-over words “bus stop” in the road.

A spokesperson for TfL said the works were aimed at improving road layout and safety for cyclists and pedestrians.

“We explored a number of options to retain the existing bus stop or to provide an additional stop between Drayton Park and the library to the south, but have not been able to find a suitable kerbside location for the stop and associated shelter,” they added.

“We will keep the changes under review to ensure people can continue to travel while reducing road danger to residents and others travelling in the area.”

Mr Lucraft said if passengers didn’t get their bus stop back, they would look into staging community action.