I AM very upset by First's bus drivers and their unsympathetic attitudes.

Just before Christmas my three granddaughters, aged 8, 12 and 14, wanted to buy some presents.

They left their Bitterne Park home to travel to Bitterne and had set aside bus fare money. When the bus arrived the driver was going to charge £5 for the three of them to travel that short distance. They didn't have that amount, so one of the girls had to return home.

My daughter was furious and tried to phone First, only to be met by an answering machine every time!

Recently, one of my granddaughters decided to go to Southampton to buy a Mother's Day gift.

The bus driver asked her for an under 16 pass' when she requested a child return. She knew nothing about these passes (her 13th birthday was three weeks prior to Mother's Day).

Because she could not produce a pass, the driver said the fare would be £2.80 from Bitterne Park.

She doesn't look 14 and I think discretion could be used in these circumstances. I know that some girls look years older than they are but surely common sense should come into it somewhere!

To charge a child £2.80 to go to the city centre is outrageous and I think somebody should be at the end of a phone when you want to discuss such matters!

My granddaughter was most upset she couldn't get the gift she had set her sights on for her mum.

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED.

A First spokesman replies: "Although we run an under 16 pass scheme, this is not compulsory and children should still be issued reduced price tickets without this pass.

"We encourage drivers to use their discretion in these matters and this child should not have been forced to pay full fare.

"We deeply regret that as a consequence the child could not buy the present she wanted and that it spoilt Mother's Day for the family.''