Shoppers say the high street has been plunged into chaos after the bus stops were moved – without telling anybody.

People say they have been left stranded after the temporary bus stops, which used to be outside Market Street, Watford, were moved back to their original location, outside Wilkinsons in High Street.

But there are no labels advising commuters which bus goes from where, no timetables, and people say they received no notice about the changes.

It means people ended up trying to get the bus from Market Street before being sent back to the town centre.

Watford Observer:

Holly Cooke was waiting for the 500 bus with her partner and child to get back home to Aylesbury.

She called the lack of signage “ridiculous.”

The 23-year-old said: “Normally the buses are quite good but the works have made it all confusing, there are no signs to tell us which stop is the right one.

“I don’t even know if the bus is coming here.”

“We came here to shop, but this is ridiculous - people knew where they could find the buses before, but now they changed it all back, and people are confused.”

The bus stop was moved back after roadworks in Clarendon Road and Market Street, near the High Street, were completed earlier this week.

A group of women were waiting for the 500 bus for almost an hour when they realised they had been waiting in the wrong place.

Janet Johnstone, 74, from Hemel Hempstead, said: “We were all waiting for the 500, and we normally catch the bus in a different place, but it has changed.

“There was a whole group of us, and a bus just went past.”

Janet Johnstone, 74, from Hemel Hempstead said: “We were all waiting for the 500, and we normally catch the bus in a different place, but it has changed.

“There were a whole group of us, and a bus just went past.”

One woman tried to flag the bus down by waving at it, according to Sandy Gordon, 69, from Hemel Hempstead – but her efforts were futile.

“A bus went straight past us, and one young lady stuck her hand out to wave him down,” she said.

It meant people were forced to wait two hours for the next bus to arrive.

Elijah Ablen, 19, from Carpenders Park said: “The problem is that there is confusion over where the bus should be stopping it would be great if they could either put it back at the old location or at least have better signs because people get lost.

"The problem is that even these stops on the High Street don’t even have the numbers laid out on them, so people are confused as well."

Watford Observer:

Rita Boshell, from West Watford, said her husband Hugh got lost after returning from Watford Town Centre due to confusion over where to get the bus.

She said: “There are no timetables and we have been given no notice.

“I’ve used the buses for years.

“I think it’s horrific. It is disgusting they can’t tell us the buses have been changed.”

Samuel Lambert helped people divert a bus to the right stop.

He said: “Commuters yesterday were puzzled as some of the drivers were not told to serve the High Street.

“A member of the public and I helped people get by to the right stop even diverting buses to the right stop.”

Watford Borough Council says that although it has notified people and for the last few weeks by putting up posters and advertising on the radio, it will put out extra signs about the bus diversions.

Mayor of Watford Peter Taylor said: “The bus diversions only came into place earlier this week, so people are still getting used to the short term changes.

"For the past few weeks we have had posters up at every bus stop in the borough to alert people to this next phase of the High Street transformation works and the changes to travel, and we have signage up in the High Street.

"We’ve also been running radio advertising and social media campaigns. In light of the feedback, we’re putting out extra signage about bus diversions to make sure people are clear about where they’re going.

"Residents have put up with a lot of disruption in the High Street over the past months and I am really grateful for everyone’s patience. "This is the final push – by the autumn Watford will be looking fantastic and it will be so much easier for people to get around.”

The Watford Observer has contacted the bus companies which serve the high street.