BUS DRIVERS who take short cuts by riding over the kerbs are putting pedestrians at risk, an angry resident claims.

John Bower says First York drivers are ruining an Acomb street by taking their heavy vehicles off the road on to grass verges and pavements.

He points to at least five deep ruts in verges - some 12 inches deep and 20 feet long - and cracked pavements down St Stephen's Road as evidence.

Council officers today promised a full investigation into Mr Bower's claims which bus chiefs disputed.

Mr Bower, 54, reckons that there's enough room for the buses to pass parked vehicles without leaving the road - if they just slowed down.

He believes a child might be seriously injured unless action is taken to stop the problem.

"They are coming off Gale Lane, up the kerbs on to the pavements and grass verges then swinging back on to the road," said the retired Merchant Navy veteran and former Cornlands Residents' Association chairman.

"If nothing is done about it there's going to be an accident sooner or later. You only need one child to walk out from behind a car. The way they are going, it's only a matter of time before somebody could be badly injured.

"All the drivers need to do is slow down a little."

Father-of-three Mr Bower, who has witnessed the problem from his St Stephen's Road home, said it was also creating an eyesore in a respectable area.

He said: "This is a nice area and I intend to keep it that way.

"It's making the area look like a rundown ghetto. It should not be ruined by a few daft drivers."

He believes the problem stems from drivers sticking to tight timetables.

Mr Bower said he contacted City of York Council last week, but was not satisfied with the response he received.

"They said they were going to send somebody out in the next few days, but nobody came."

Peter McCarthy, head of service delivery with First York, said the tyre tracks were unlikely to have been caused by buses.

"After seeing them I can't imagine a professional bus driver going that far off the road."

He suspected a van was to blame.

Ann Reid, council executive member for transport, said: "I would be interested to know the details of the complaint because I know that First works with the council to try and solve problems like this."

Updated: 10:52 Tuesday, March 16, 2004