Another attack on bus driver (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Another attack on bus driver

A WOMAN bus driver was left badly shaken after being threatened and robbed by two passengers.

The woman was driving the number seven Stagecoach bus through Highworth when the pair, a man and a woman, boarded at the Brewery Street stop.

They became abusive when the woman inadvertently gave them tickets to the wrong destination.

The man started hitting and kicking equipment on the bus, and when the driver tried to call for help on her mobile phone he stole £5 from her cash bag.

Police say the woman was left "very distressed" by the incident on Friday at noon. It is the second time this month that a bus driver has been attacked in Swindon.

In the Adver on June 10 we reported that a Thamesdown bus driver was punched in the number 13 bus outside Asda Wal-Mart, north Swindon.

Sholto Thomas, operations director at Stagecoach, said: "Any assistance that anybody could give which would help with identifying the perpetrators of this attack would be very much appreciated.

"It is absolutely unacceptable that something like this should happen not just for the staff but for the other passengers on the bus who witnessed it.

"It's not very encouraging for people to travel on buses.

"These types of people should be apprehended and punished."

He said steps had been taken to protect bus drivers working at night from physical attack.

"Already we have had to enclose drivers working at night in their cabs to avoid attacks like this.

"At times our drivers are very vulnerable.

"But it's not really what we would like to do if everybody behaved themselves."

And he said it would be other passengers who would be paying the price for vandalised equipment on the buses.

"I don't know what people hope to get out of destroying our equipment, because it is all our other passengers who will have to pay back for the equipment."

There were a number of other passengers on the bus at the time of the incident.

The man is described as in his late 30s or early 40s with long greying hair tied in a pony tail and tattoos on his hands and arms.

The woman is also in her late 30s or early 40s and is described as having long straight blonde hair, tattoos on both arms and studs in her left eyebrow.

Anyone with information about what happened should contact Swindon police on 01793 501794 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Diana Milne