Bus driver refuses to let girl, 16, on last service home due to 'health and safety'

Watch: Bus driver refuses to let stranded girl, 16, on final service home

This is the moment a bus driver refused to let a 16-year-old girl on the last service home.

Video footage shows the teenager - and a female police officer who tried to intervene - pleading with the bus driver to let her on.

But the bus driver refused to open the doors of his vehicle, claiming he was following “health and safety”.

In the clip, the girl can be heard continuously asking the driver to board the bus service, from Beverley Bus Station to Dunswell, East Yorkshire, at about 9.30pm last Sunday.

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Instead of letting her on, the bus driver beeps the horn in an effort to move her out of the way, even though the girl breaks down in tears.

A police officer at the station at the time witnessed the incident and tried to intervene.

But when she asked the driver to let the girl on, he said he couldn’t because of “health and safety”.

Fortunately, the police officer gave the girl a lift home.

The girl's father, Gary Hockney, said: "She was so upset. It happened on Sunday night and on Monday she didn't go to college.

"She was frightened to go on the bus because she goes on a public bus and she was worried that she would bump into this driver. She came back on Monday and she was in tears about it and explained that was why."

The teenager had tried to board the East Yorkshire bus service after visiting her friends.

She said that as she reached the bus, it started to pull away. She stood in front of the bus while it was still in the parking bay.

But she claims the driver refused to let her on and continually beeped the horn, flashed his lights and revved the engine, while she was crying.

"Can you just open the door, I need to get home," she can be heard saying in the video.

When the police officer tried to intervene and asked why he couldn’t let her own, the bus driver replied: “Health and safety”.

Mr Hockney said: “The bus was still in the parking bay and as she approached it, it began to pull away.

"She was directly in front of the doors and in full view of the driver. He looked at her, he saw her and carried on pulling out.

"She started crying at one point and he's revving his engine, flashing his lights, beeping his horn and then fortunately a police officer in the station at the time came over and asked what was going on.

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"I want to draw attention to his actions but also the officer’s, because it's such a positive thing that she did, I would have picked her up but it was such a nice gesture.”

A spokeswoman for East Yorkshire Buses said: "On Sunday night, one of our buses was in the process of leaving Beverley Bus Station at its scheduled departure time when a late arriving passenger ran out in front of it to try to stop it leaving.

"For safety reasons, our drivers are advised not to allow any more passengers to board once they have closed the doors and reversed off the bus station stands, as it is unsafe for passengers to try to enter the part of the station where buses are moving.

"The passenger refused to move from in front of the bus, so a police officer who was in the station dealing with some antisocial behaviour came to speak to the driver, and agreed to give the passenger a lift home so that the bus could continue on its way.

"Our driver was satisfied that the passenger was safe, and the bus was able to continue with its journey.”