TWO youngsters were ordered to get off a bus in Stevenage last week because they did not have ID. Sisters Paige, 14 and Shayla Joy, eight, of Austen Paths, boarded an SB1 Arriva bus in Chells Way to Stevenage town centre, but when they asked the driver fo

TWO youngsters were ordered to get off a bus in Stevenage last week because they did not have ID.

Sisters Paige, 14 and Shayla Joy, eight, of Austen Paths, boarded an SB1 Arriva bus in Chells Way to Stevenage town centre, but when they asked the driver for a one and a half fare, the driver asked for ID for the younger one.

When Paige said she didn't have ID for her sister, the driver said they had to pay full fare or get off.

Paige and Shayla boarded the bus but only had enough for one and a half return which cost £2.10 in total. So they had to walk back on their own.

Paige, said: "I was really annoyed and felt like being rude to the driver. It was embarrassing because all the other passengers were looking and could see my sister was eight but I didn't want to argue so we just got on the bus.

"It took us an hour and a half to walk home from town along a cycle track which I was uncomfortable with because it was beginning to get dark but I just focused on getting my sister home."

Mother Rebecca Joy, 34, said: "I was fuming and shocked when the girls told me what had happened because the bus driver was so rude. He could clearly see my eight-year-old didn't look 11.

"This isn't the first time this has happened either.

"About two years ago, I got on a bus and I was confronted with another obnoxious driver who again demanded I pay full fare for Paige because I didn't have ID for her. I said she was my daughter, to which he said 'pay full fare or get off his bus!'

"I stayed on the bus because I was in a hurry and had to get into town but this is not on. What gives these drivers the right!?

"I don't know why they feel the need to be so rude. I know they have a job to do but I work with the general public every day and you just have to bite your tongue."

A spokeswoman for the bus company said: "The driver operating the bus at the time of the complaint was a new driver and became confused over ticket prices. The driver has since been retrained and a refund was issued.

"We apologise for any distress caused.