Bus user told to ‘grow up’ over Covid seating

A BUS passenger says she was told to “grow up” and show respect after she asked a woman not to sit close to her.

The passenger, called Lauren, had boarded the number 5 Arriva bus in Leicester with her sister at 3pm on Friday.

Some of the seats on the bus were taped off to ensure social distancing.

But a woman boarded the bus and Lauren says she sat on the taped-off seat near to her.

The exchange was shared by Lauren on Twitter on Friday night in a tweet to Arriva East Midlands.

Lauren said: “Got on the number 5 bus in Leicester at 15:00 today and this lady clearly sat in a seat that was taped off and ignored me when I tried to explain that she couldn’t sit there and when I tried to get off and asked her to move she continued to ignore me.

“She then decided to get rude and told me to grow up, **** off and get some respect.

“I then tried to explain we have to social distance because of the current pandemic and she continued to shout at me and my sister

“And as I was leaving the bus and explained to the driver she was sitting in a taped off area, he said, ‘Don’t worry, I knew’. Surely these rules should be enforced? She clearly wasn’t listening when I told her.

“He should’ve told her.”

While Arriva has not commented on whether it enforces its seating arrangements, the company has said in the past that its drivers are not required to refuse or remove passengers over the face mask rules that came in at the beginning of the summer.

Earlier this month, the company investigated after a photograph showed a packed school bus and took action to increase capacity.

Meanwhile, the company has been increasing the number of services around the county to try to ensure passengers can travel safely and keep apart.