Zoë Hillis was rushing to get ready for work on the day before Christmas Eve when she realised she did not have any money in the house.
She raided her coppers jar and managed to scramble together her 85 pence fare for her short trip from the Le Squez youth club to Snow Hill.But, according to Mrs Hillis, the driver was not impressed when she put her change in the tray.
‘The first thing that I said when I walked onto the bus was that I was really sorry but I didn’t have any other sort of money.
I even offered to pay in a cheque or wait until we got to the Weighbridge before he counted it out.’But halfway through counting it he just said “”Oh, I’ve had enough of this”” and threw me off the bus.
I was so embarrassed and upset.
The weather was appalling, with heavy rain and wind, and I was then really late for work.
As I was getting off the bus I called the driver a fat fool, but that was in the heat of the moment.’In the end, Mrs Hillis managed to get a friend to collect her and take her to work.’I called Connex to complain and someone told me I would be called after the new year but I am still waiting to be contacted.
I now ride my bicycle to work and the thought of getting on that bus and seeing the driver again makes me feel sick.’John Moore, the operations manager at Connex, said: ‘We are not denying that Mrs Hillis was not allowed to travel on the bus but the story we have is a very different one.
We apparently have witnesses to the incident and we are waiting for Mrs Hillis to put her account of the incident in writing.
We have already started an internal investigation.’The inspector investigating the case has been trying to get hold of Mrs Hillis to speak to her about it, but from what I have heard, we have two very different reasons as to why she was not allowed onto the bus.’According to law – the decimal currency act 1967 – a vendor has the right to refuse payment for an item over 20 pence if it is paid in coppers.
However, the law has not been updated for over 30 years and it is open to the discretion of the vendor.
