'Bus rage' driver suspended

First City Line are investigating the incident

A bus company has suspended one of its drivers over allegations that he took passengers on a five-mile journey of terror.

The First City Line bus was running a special service from a Radio One roadshow on Bristol's Durdham Down to a park-and-ride centre when passengers claim it became involved in a road rage incident.

They say the driver lost his temper when a motorist driving a Saab forced the bus to break suddenly.

I thought he was going to kill us all

Sarah Nixon, Passenger

The driver then chased the car at speeds of up to 55 miles an hour, even pulling into the oncoming lane to try and overtake the Saab.

Some of the 80 passengers on board claim children were screaming as the bus driver tried to overtake the Saab while going down Bridge Valley Road which runs down the side of the Avon Gorge.

The nightmare journey only ended after five miles, when the car sped away down a side road.

Sarah Nixon, 36, from Congresbury, near Bristol, was on the bus with her 12-year-old daughter Alana.

"Many of the passengers screamed at the driver to stop and clung to hand rails as he tried to overtake on a narrow road," she told the Daily Mail.

"I thought he was going to kill us all. He should never be allowed to drive a bus again," she said.

The bus operators, First Group, say they have not received an official complaint but are investigating the incident.