A mum claims she was “physically pushed off the bus” by a driver after passengers waiting over an hour were refused entry.

Harriet Mitchell branded Watford bus services a "disgrace" and shared a clip of a large crowd that had waited in the rain rowing with a driver.

Bus operator Arriva has since reviewed CCTV footage of the incident, and denies that the driver made any physical contact with the passenger.

Ms Mitchell claims that Arriva's number 10 and 20 route is regularly late and crammed when it arrives, but at 4pm on Monday three buses failed to turn up in a row.

She also claimed that when the fourth finally came, the driver allegedly refused to accept passengers.

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Ms Mitchell said: “I could see there were some seats and standing room and I tried to get on but he pushed me and shut the doors on a sleeping two-year-old’s buggy.”

The single mum added that she has to use the bus for the school run because she suffers from arthritis and other health conditions.

“There were about 40 people waiting but he said it was a school bus," she claimed. "He was just making it up."

In a clip posted on social media, another woman can be heard pointing at an adult passenger shouting “he’s not a school child, you are a liar”.

Watford Observer: The bus station in Watford High StreetThe bus station in Watford High Street (Image: Holly Cant)

Many other people in the crowd can also be heard yelling at the driver at once.

One person points out that a child who had waited for the bus can be seen crying.

Ms Mitchell claimed she met a woman on the next service who was nine months' pregnant and had been refused entry to the bus at the hospital.

A spokesperson for Arriva said: "The service in question was running late, by 14 minutes, unfortunately related to staff shortages at our depot affecting overall service delivery."

Arriva claim that only one bus was late, in comparison to the three that Ms Mitchell suggested.

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The spokesperson continued: "Our driver boards school children first, as is our guidance to our driver workforce – to board children & vulnerable passengers first.

"At no point did our driver make any physical contact with any passengers.

"The accusation by the Mum of being physically pushed by our driver is incorrect & CCTV confirms this.

"Our driver tries to close the bus door, as he believes there is no longer clear, free space on board for any more passengers to board and travel.

"However, he is not able to fully close the door due to the wheel of a pram being placed on the first step of the bus, by a passenger.

"The passenger with the pram then also boards the bus, quickly.  

Watford Observer: The bus station in Watford High StreetThe bus station in Watford High Street (Image: Holly Cant)

"The driver confirms the bus was now full, he was not comfortable with boarding any more passengers and as he tries to leave the bus stop to continue an already late service, a customer who is still waiting at the bus stop continues to press the emergency door open button, which causes the doors to keep opening despite driver efforts to close them.

"The driver states he had no choice but to drive away from the bus stop with bus doors open.

"He could not allow any more passengers to board this service."

Ms Mitchell also shared another video of a bus dropping passengers off before the stop and then driving past people waiting.

The complaints come as other parents have hit out over the number 10 and 20 buses.

Another mum, Anna Luna, said the same service is late three or four times a week and sometimes forces her daughter to walk 50 minutes in the rain.

“It has not been showing up on time since school has started," she said.

“It’s irresponsible for a child to be standing out in the dark by the road without shelter.”

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