A teenager was left stranded by two separate bus drivers in Richmond at nearly midnight on New Year’s Day.

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The boy, 15, attempted to get the bus home from Richmond station at 11.30pm after getting a puncture in his bike.

His mother Janet Tuck said: "He was refused entry with the bike onto two R70 buses on the grounds of ‘health and safety’.

"At that time of night the buses were virtually empty and he would have held the bike in the wheelchair area which, to me, is no different to a wheelchair being parked there and would have been no bother to anyone."

His mother said she was "so disappointed" that both drivers refused her son entry onto the buses and said that as a company, Transport for London should consider themselves lucky that her son arrived home safely.

"It is absolutely ludicrous, leaving my son no option but to leave his bike in Richmond and take the bus home to Hampton, which by the time he arrived, was half past midnight."

Councillor for Fulwell and Hampton Hill Mark Boyle said: "It is disappointing that the bus driver didn’t show any flexibility."

A spokesperson for TFL said: "Due to the limitations of the space available within the bus, only bicycles which are able to fold down are permitted on board."