Industry shows its support after Ridleys’ coach is attacked at Wembley
Calls have been made for stronger protection for coaches and passengers when transporting football supporters to matches, following an incident involving Warwick-based Ridleys Coaches.
Taking place last Monday (27 May) outside of Wembley Stadium, Aston Villa fans began attacking one of Ridleys’ double-decker coaches, which had Derby County supporters onboard at the time.
Video footage emerged showing the vehicle being hit with bottles and cans and some saying even a missile.
Sam Archer, Engineering Manager at Archway Travel, has launched a JustGiving page for Ridleys after it sustained, what Mr Archer is estimating, around £20,000 worth of damage to one of its vehicles.
Mr Archer says: “An Aston Villa supporter had set up their own JustGiving page which said the funds raised would be going towards coach repairs and some for the fans that were onboard. It was then revealed that the funds raised would be going to the broker which had supplied the coach, not the operator.
“I thought it’s not really fair so we set the page up just to see if we can get a bit of support going for Ridleys.”
A further update on the supporters JustGiving page states that all monies raised will solely be going to the Derby fans affected.
Mr Archer has contacted the Confederation of Passenger Transport in a bid to gain support with the hope of finding a solution to keep passengers and coaches safe in the future.
“It’s happened before and it will keep happening until something is done to change it,” he says.
Donations to support Ridleys Coaches can be made at: bit.ly/2XwgQcA
