Father has brush with bus madness

A Midland man was prevented from boarding a bus – because he had a tin of paint with him.

Ian Griffiths, of Moss Crescent, Huntington, near Cannock, bought the tin in town to decorate his kitchen but when he tried to get the number 22 Arriva bus home he was told he was not allowed on for safety reasons.

The sealed tin contained white, water-based emulsion and a fellow passenger offered him a plastic bag to put it in. The bus driver still refused to allow him on.

In the end, the driver cancelled the service, leaving passengers stranded at the bus stop at around 4pm on Saturday to wait for the next bus and the 39-year-old father-of-three was forced to get a taxi home. He said: "I can understand not allowing petrol on the bus and I would have understood it if I were a child trying to carry paint on the bus to mess about with it and spill it everywhere.

"But I am a responsible adult and it was water-based emulsion, not a product of risk and it was completely sealed. I wanted to carry on with my painting.

"He just switched the engine off and cancelled the service and we all had to get off the bus.

"I felt a bit bad for the other passengers because I contributed to stopping the service but I was annoyed. All I wanted to do was go home.

"If that policy is right, what other things should people not be carrying on the buses with their shopping."

He said he had carried paint on the bus before and had never had a problem. Keith Myatt, a spokesman for Arriva, confirmed that there was a list of hazardous items which passengers were not allowed to take on the bus.

The list of items are large bulky items which would obstruct the aisle, petrol cans either empty or full, small hazardous packages that could be a fire or explosion risk, very strong-smelling items and large tins of paint or oily items which could cause damage to the seating or passengers' clothing.

But small tins of paint which can be secured in a handbag or carrier bag are allowed.

He said: "If the bus driver is aware that there are hazardous substances that a passenger is attempting to carry on to a bus then they will be stopped."