A DISABLED teacher was left waiting on the kerb after a driver refused to allow him to board his bus.

Steven O’Shea, 23, from Newington Avenue, suffers from Thrombocytopenia-absent radius which has left him without the radius and ulna bone in each forearm.

Wheelchair-bound Mr O’Shea, his brother, Mike, 25 and their mum Karen were waiting to get on the number 24 First bus from Southend High Street to Newington Avenue, Southend, on Friday when Mr O’Shea was stopped from boarding the bus due to there already being a pram on board. However, the driver is said to have allowed another pushchair on board further along the route.

When his mother asked the driver if Steven could get on he said no. Steven’s mother and brother took that bus home whilst Steven and his girlfriend waited for the next one. Three stops later Mike pointed out that the bus driver had allowed another pushchair onto the bus despite turning Steven away.

Steven said: “I travel to and from work on buses every day, I’ve had drivers look at the wheelchair before and shake their head as they drive away, it’s disgusting. I’m a teacher so I often have equipment to carry home, and I’m vulnerable on my own.

I’ve been late to work many times because the disabled space has been taken by prams, even though it states the space should be free.”

According to Steven and Mike this is a frequent occurrence.

A spokesperson for First buses said: “We are sorry to hear of Steven’s experience, and have launched an internal investigation to establish what happened and why. Our policy has recently changed, which means that drivers are expected to seek non-wheelchair-bound passengers occupying the designated wheelchair space to make way for a wheelchair user wanting to board when required.”