Billy saw fiancee die under bus..3yrs on firm stall on payout.

Byline: Additional reporting by JANE BARRIE

TORMENTED Billy Eskdale suffers flashbacks to the day he saw his beloved fiancee crushed under the wheels of a bus.

The pair had been out shopping when tragic Sarah McLean - who was just 21 and had everything to live for - was hit. She died at the scene.

But three years later Billy is fighting for compensation from bus firm Stagecoach. Their claims handler says there is no evidence of a relationship between the couple.

Devastated Billy, 26, said: "I am furious at their underhand and despicable tactics.

"They're making me out to be a liar. They even put the word 'relationship' in inverted commas in their letters to my lawyer.

"It's almost as though my six years with Sarah didn't happen."

The couple, who met in 1999, had lived together in Irvine, Ayrshire, for five years when the tragedy happened.

Billy said: "It was the worst day of my life. Sarah worked in a factory and we got the bus down to town to pick up her wages and get some messages.

"We got off and were trying to cross the road when Sarah darted out and another bus hit her.

"It came from nowhere, she didn't see it. I had to watch as it chewed her up and spat her out the back."

Security guard Billy was off work for eight months and moved in with his mum Margaret, 46, in Barmulloch, Glasgow, while he tried to come to terms with his loss.

He said: "There was an investigation and the bus driver got an 18-month ban and a fine. But it was decided Sarah was partly responsible as she ran out into the road.

"I am still traumatised by it. I can't cope if a bus drives past me too fast."

But Stagecoach's agent refused to entertain his claim unless he proved his relationship.

He said: "Sarah and I were engaged, had lived together for five years and planned to start a family. What more do they need?"

Sarah's dad Hugh provided a statement under oath stating Billy and his daughter were a couple but the firm still refused to pay.

So Billy called me in. He said: "They are wearing me down."

I got on to PSV Claims who act on behalf of Stagecoach. They said they needed proof Billy lived at the same address. I'm getting North Ayrshire Council to provide that.

A PSV spokesman said: "Our client is a caring company. We extend our sympathy to Mr Eskdale and Ms McLean's family.

"We need evidence he was the partner of the deceased. To date we have not received this."

If Stagecoach are the caring company they say they are, they will do the decent thing and pay out.

Billy's waited far too long.

CAPTION(S):

Devoted: Billy with fiancee Sarah but he is fighting to prove they were a couple; Trauma: Devastated Billy