Bennetts Coach Hire News

Please note that we intend to operate as per the following for Monday 11th January 2010 and beyond until such time that there is an improvement in the weather and therefore the road surfaces. We are making an assumption that the schools will be open, however as the weekend approaches we appreciate that parents and pupils will need to plan ahead. If the schools are shut then the services will not run.

Brockworth School

We have reviewed the routes and can not provide a school bus service to the school due to the conditions of the surrounding access roads. The School has been notified of this. We will continue to review the situation from Monday and update this site accordingly.

High School for Girls and Sir Thomas Rich’s Schools

We will run the following services:

DR1: No Swindon Lane or Swindon Village pick ups

DR2: No Windyridge or Pittville Circus pick ups

DR3: No Berkhampstead School pick up

DR4: Service starts at Sandford Mill Road. Due to the road surface, there will be no pick ups from Sixways, Lyefield Road and Copt Elm Road. The remaining pick ups will be as usual. Please can those pupils who would normally be picked up at Sixways, Lyefield Road and Copt Elm make their way to the Moorend Road/Withyholt Court stop.

DR5: No Leckhampton Road / Co-op pick ups

DR6: Please can pupils make their way to the bus stop opposite St Stephens Road in the Park who would normally catch the bus from the Hatherley Court Road, Warden Hill stops. For those pupils in Hatherley/Warden Hill we will be stopping opposite Morrison’s. The Bus will then make its way to school. We are unfortunately unable to pick up from Churchdown at the Bat and Ball, Community Centre, Parton Road Library and The Elf Garage on Cheltenham Road due to the road conditions being unsuitable for the coach.

DR7: Full Service

DR8: Full Service

St Peter’s High School

Due to the link roads not being suitable we would ask all pupils to make their way to nearest stops as per the following:

SPH1: Will run from stops 1-4 and then onto the school. This service will not pick up after Ermin Street/Dupont (Invista).

SPH2: Will run stops 1-5 and then onto the school.

SPH3: Will run stops 1-7 as normal but will not complete stops 8 and 9 through Abbeymead

Newent School

We intend to review this service on Monday 11th January 2010 based on the road conditions and the school’s plans for opening.

For ease of reference as to the allocated stops please go to our home page and click on the link at the bottom of the page for “School Bus Timetables”. Here you will find all of the required school routes, times and stops.

We would like to thank everyone for their assistance and patience.

Please note that due to the condition of the roads in the area, we will NOT be operating any school bus service to Brockworth Enterprise School on Friday 8th January 2010.

Updated 7th January 2010

Please note that as at 15:35 on 7th January 2010, we understand that Sir Thomas Rich’s School is open tomorrow 8th January 2010 for Year 11-13 pupils only. We are unaware at this time as to whether the High School for Girls is open.

We are therefore planning to run the following school bus services to both schools. If the High School is not open we will run these services to Sir Thomas Rich’s School only. Return journey pick up times will be as usual unless the schools notify us of any early closure.

DR1: No Swindon Lane or Swindon Village pick ups

DR2: No Windyridge or Pitville Circus pick ups

DR3: No Berkhamstead School pick up

DR4: NO SERVICE is running

DR5: No Leckhampton Road / Co-op pick ups

DR6: NO SERVICE is running

DR7: Full Service

DR8: Full Service

For those pupils where a service is not running or is limited we would be grateful if you could make your way to the nearest next stop on ANY route as there will be sufficient space on the coaches. If you are unsure as to where the stops are, please click on the school timetables page on the bottom of the home page. This will take you to all DR routes, stops and times.

Thank you for your assistance with this.

Updated at 15:00 6th January 2010:

Please note that the following will be the last bus for Cheltenham Park and Ride:

Departing The Promenade at 18:09 to Arle Court.

The last bus for Gloucester Park and Ride will be the 18:00 from the New County for St Oswalds and 18:14 from Kimbrose Triangle to Waterwells.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact us on 01452-527809.

We are expecting to run both services tomorrow 7th January 2010 subject to the road conditions.

As of 08:30 am on the 6th January 2010 the Park and Ride Services operating in Gloucester (Waterwells) and Cheltenham (Arle Court) are both fully in service.

Due to the conditions on the road, the services maybe subject to some delays and we would ask for your patience in waiting for the buses to arrive.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact us on 01452-527809.

Please note that we will be open as per the following information. We wish all our customers and passengers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2010!

We are delighted to announce that Gavin Bennett has successfully reclaimed the European Super Kart title that he last held in 2007. After completing the gruelling race schedule, Gavin amassed 4 race wins leaving him a clear 28 points ahead of the second placed competitor.

During the season Gavin set three new lap records at Most in the Czech Republic, Assen and Magny-Cours.

Gavin said ” It was a really challenging season and I would like to place on record my thanks to my team and sponsors who have been really supportive over the years in helping me become European Champion”.

He now goes to Monte Carlo to attend the prestigious awards ceremony which is graced by the Formula One and Sports car drivers.

Next year Gavin is intending to retain the title, as well as competing in races in Dubai and Australia. New sponsors are always welcome and Gavin can be contacted via Bennetts Coaches.

One of our Coach Drivers, Martyn Starkey, was recently caught up in an attempt by three migrants trying to smuggle their way into the UK. On returning from a trip to Metz, Martyn was made aware of three men who had successfully got underneath his coach and were concealing themselves just by the engine at the rear of the coach.

Martyn explained “I was told by a passenger that they had seen the men getting underneath the coach. I informed the local police, who advised me to drive to Calais where they would be dealt with there. I was really concerned about their safety as we drove.”

“Upon arrival at Calais, a team of police searched the whole coach. We had to remove the floor panels to get access to these men and the police removed them. We were able to continue our return journey as planned. It is something that you hear about in the news, but in reality it is a totally different scenario. All my passengers were fantastic and stayed very calm throughout the experience. It is worth all other Coach and Bus operators being aware of just how determined some people are to get to the UK.”

We are delighted to announce that for the third consecutive year we have been successfully reassessed by an independent body, CHAS, in recognition of our compliance to all the very latest Health and Safety standards.

CHAS assess both the internal and external features of our business and as we regularly transport many customers across the UK and beyond, we believe that our commitment to maintaining a comprehensive regime of Health and Safety for our customers and staff is an additional value when booking a Bennetts coach.

We remain the only coach operator within Gloucestershire to have been awarded with the CHAS accreditation.

Recently we have been asked about supplying quality travel for Gloucester Rugby supporters for the coming season and if you are interested in registering for away game travel this year please contact us at info@bennettscoaches.co.uk.

We will contact you with any forthcomming travel arrangements.