I WOULD really like to know what policy the Oxford Bus Company instructs its drivers to follow when picking passengers up at bus stops in the city centre.

On November 10 my girlfriend and I ran to catch a Number 1 bus that was waiting in St Aldates. We thought we had got there in time: the last passenger in the queue had just got on and was in the process of paying but, instead of waiting to allow us to board, the driver just closed the doors in our faces and started to drive away.

The driver was well aware that we wanted to board his bus because he had watched us signalling to him.

This left us with no choice but to wait for the next bus, a Stagecoach Number 5, which we boarded and sat down. Just as the driver was preparing to depart, I saw a man running for the bus. In this case, the driver opened the doors and allowed the passenger aboard.

So why the different attitude towards the paying pubIic? This is not the first time we have had this kind of ‘service’ from Oxford Bus Company drivers.

It is all very well to introduce a common ticketing policy and encourage people to use public transport, but it would also be nice for both operators to apply a common policy of courtesy.

OBC would do well to remember the words of one of its own signs that used to hang in the old bus garage in Oxford Road: sales equals revenue, equals employment.

Our customer experience of OBC that evening will only make us more inclined to choose Stagecoach buses for our trips in future.

STEVE LEWIS, Holm Way, Bicester