A MOTHER whose two-year-old daughter started to cry was kicked off a bus by the driver who complained of a headache.

Paryss Walter had been to visit her disabled mum in Old Felixstowe and was on the bus back to her home in Walton High Street when daughter Lillie became upset.

Miss Walter tried to calm her but alleged the driver swore and told her to get off the bus, she says.

The shop assistant said she stood up to apologise to other passengers but they stuck up for her, saying she had paid for her ticket and had a right to stay on the bus.

Miss Walter said: “It was embarrassing.”

“Lillie was getting upset because it was 5.30pm – she was tired and hungry.

“I tried everything I could to calm her down – it is not as though I just sat there leaving her crying.

“She is two years old – toddlers cry.

“I couldn’t believe someone was talking to me like that. I was going to get off but some of the other passengers stepped in and stuck up for me.”

Miss Walter and Lillie eventually got off the bus as the driver was insistent. Miss Walter, 22, said she was left in tears and was speaking out to ensure others did not suffer in the same way.

She wrote a formal letter of complaint to bus company First informing her that the company could not tell her the action the man faced due to employee confidentiality.

The letter states: “Due to employee confidentiality, I am unable to discuss the form of action that has been taken.

“However it may have involved retraining, monitoring, a disciplinary sanction or all three.”

A spokesman for First Buses said: “We received a complaint from this customer, regarding inappropriate behaviour from a driver on our 76 service. The driver has been identified and the disciplinary process is still ongoing.

“First take allegations of this nature extremely seriously, and the driver in question will be dealt with according to our company policy.”