A peace campaigner was banned from a bus in Oxford for carrying a placard opposing the Israeli air strikes in Gaza.

Richard Roaf, 22, of Blandford Avenue, North Oxford, was left seething after a bus driver told him he could not board the bus with the sign because it might offend other passengers.

Mr Roaf had been carrying the sign after attending a vigil in Cornmarket Street, Oxford.

It read ‘Stop The Killing’ on one side and ‘End The Blockade Of Gaza’ on the other.

Mr Roaf, who works for the campaign group People and Planet, said: “The driver said it was political propaganda and I wasn’t allowed on the bus because it might upset or offend other people, but I don’t know how it could have offended anybody.

“I was offended myself that he said it was political propaganda.

“It seemed totally uncalled for, but he said I wasn’t coming on the bus — it was absolutely ridiculous.

“I thought he might have had a political motive.

“He wasn’t very friendly and his reaction was totally over the top.

“The vast majority of people who go to vigils or protests go on public transport. It’s not like I was having a protest on the bus.”

The incident happened on Friday, the morning after more than 300 people attended a peaceful protest in Cornmarket opposing the bombing of Gaza.

Oxford-born Mr Roaf, who recently completed a philosophy degree in London, had been attempting to board an Oxford Bus Company 2C bus from Upland Park Road into the city centre.

Louisa Weeks, Oxford Bus Company’s operations director, said it was not the company’s policy to stop people carrying political placards from boarding its buses.

She said: “It’s a most unusual situation and not one I’ve come across in many years in the bus industry.

“We try to think of every eventuality in our rule book, but political placards have never been an issue.

“We’ve not been able to speak to the driver involved yet, but we will be asking him what happened.

“We’re sorry Mr Roaf was upset.

“I’m sure the driver thought he was doing the right thing when faced with an unusual situation.

“However, as long as the placard wasn’t too big and a physical danger to other passengers, I’d have been quite happy to have carried Mr Roaf and the placard as long as he was merely travelling on the bus and not promoting a cause as he travelled.”

An estimated 900 Palestinians and 13 Israelis have died since the start of Israel’s attacks in Gaza nearly three weeks ago.

Air and ground attacks on Hamas militants are continuing.

In 2003, Oxford Bus Company apologised to a passenger after he was ordered to remove an anti-war badge or get off the bus.

Peter Bearder, then 21, of Stanley Road, Oxford, was told to remove his ‘Don't Attack Iraq’ badge when he got on an Oxford Bus Company No.4 bus from Carfax to Rose Hill.

Mr Bearder, a switchboard operator for Thames Valley Police, said he felt shocked and embarrassed.

The Socialist Workers Party is holding a free meeting called ‘Stop The Massacre In Gaza — How can Palestine be free?’ at The Mitre pub in High Street, Oxford, on Wednesday, at 7.30pm.

tshepherd@oxfordmail.co.uk