An Abbots Langley woman who was injured falling down the stairs of a double-decker bus believes the driver may have been anxious to pull away quickly having broken company policy.

Caroline Bloomer was left in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairs with bruises and a shoulder injury after the driver pulled away without realising she was still on board the 142 bus She was returning from a trip out in London on Saturday, April 21, and had tried to leave the bus at Watford Junction station only to be thrown off balance when it pulled away. Her screams then alerted the driver who slammed on the brakes causing her to fall the rest of the way down the stairs.

Mrs Bloomer says she was the last passenger to disembark but believes the driver moved off quickly having opened the doors to let passengers off away from the regular stop which was occupied.

She said: "The bus stop was busy so the driver stopped on the right hand side and started letting passengers off when he should have waited. I don’t know why he decided to pull into the bus stand and let passengers off instead of waiting.

"He was breaking the rules and it is my assumption that he was keen to move off as quickly as possible."

Mrs Bloomer added that several other Arriva drivers have told her the stairs are a blind spot and that they are forced to manually count people down the stairs to make sure everybody is off before leaving a stop.

Several weeks after the incident, the part-time public relations manager from Gallows Hill Lane says she is in constant discomfort, visits her GP every week and has still not been able to return to work.

Due to her part-time status she fears she may not be entitled to any sick pay during that period and has vowed to seek compensation from Arriva.

She said: "I still have a number of aches, pains and some bruises.

"I’ve been having weekly GP appointments but there is nothing the doctor can really do about it.

"My left shoulder has been causing me a lot of discomfort and it looks like it may need physiotherapy. Emotionally it has been very tough as well, for the few days after the accident I kept re-living it in my mind."

Arriva said the driver reported the incident and the company launched a full investigation.

A spokesman said: "Our investigation is complete and we are satisfied with our findings on this matter. We are aware the driver unloaded passengers away from the normal stop. "On arriving at Watford Junction he saw that his stop was blocked by a rail replacement bus and rather than delay passengers he allowed them to disembark at a safe place before proceeding to his stop when able to do so. "We are more than happy to discuss our findings with Mrs Bloomer directly and she can contact us to set up a meeting."