On Wednesday, three friends and I decided to listen to advice from the bus companies and leave our cars at home and travel to Eastbourne by bus.

It was an experience never to be repeated for the following reasons:

1. The staff in One Stop were not very helpful, especially as I am rather a novice at travelling by bus.

2. The driver was equally unhelpful regarding which ticket I needed for one adult and three children (one of whom is only four years old).

Eventually, I bought an adult saver and three child return tickets.

Two of my friends were to catch the bus in Saltdean.

The driver pulled into the bus stop in Saltdean where one of my friends had her hand up when suddenly he pulled away without stopping.

For the rest of the journey he drove erratically, not slowing down at roundabouts and using his horn at every opportunity which made the journey rather like a fairground ride.

3. Our friends had to wait more than half an hour for the next bus. When it eventually arrived, the driver said they couldn't get on as they had a buggy each.

They insisted and got on the bus. One of them was charged full adult fare for her nine year old son. But she didn't have enough change and owed him 10p. She said she would take the money to him once she had settled the children in their seats upstairs.

In Peacehaven, the driver stopped the bus and went upstairs to insist the 10p was paid immediately to keep his books straight. Unfortunately, he had the wrong woman.

When this was pointed out his words were: "After a while you all look the same".

4. When we wanted to leave Eastbourne, we waited patiently for the 712 bus to return to Brighton.

After 35 minutes, the bus appeared and so did an extremely large group of overseas students (International Student Travel) who proceeded to push in front of us, knocking two three-year-olds into the road.

As we complained among ourselves, the student leader stated "I did tell them not to push and let other people get on first" - obviously not very loudly or effectively as none of them heard or took any notice.

As they proceeded to fill all the seats and we had young children, we had to wait another 20 minutes for the next bus.

In future we have decided to take our cars for a far less stressful and more relaxed outing for us and the children.

-Denise Elliott, Woodingdean