A BUS company is investigating one of its drivers after a deaf woman claimed she was “humiliated” on a journey to Oxford.

Sarah Chapman, of Witney, complained to Stagecoach after the incident on its Oxford Tube service on Monday.

Mrs Chapman, 49, said she was returning to Oxford from London with a £20 return ticket she had bought on Friday, on which she was told her daughters, aged 13 and 15, could travel for free.

She alleges the driver forced her to pay £15 for her daughters and made a call on his mobile, which he then “waved” in her face on speakerphone, insisting she could hear.

On its website, the bus company states five- to 15-year-olds travelling with a fare-paying adult can use its service between the two cities free of charge.

Mrs Chapman, who wears hearing aids and relies on lip-reading, said: “It was humiliating to be in a stand-off with the driver, him waving the phone in my face and insisting that I could hear while I repeatedly told him that I couldn’t.

“It was also unpleasant for my teenage daughters, who had to tell me what the driver’s colleague was saying over the speakerphone and who heard the driver tell him ‘she says she can’t hear, but she can’.”

Stagecoach managing director Martin Sutton said: “We are very sorry about this incident and would like to apologise to Mrs Chapman for what has happened. We place great importance on training drivers in all aspects of customer service and we are investigating the matter so we can take appropriate action to ensure this does not happen again.”

Mrs Chapman said she was pleased the firm was investigating.

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