A BUS driver who tried to take a double-decker bus through Walmgate Bar was given the wrong vehicle by his company, York Magistrates heard.

A City of York engineer inspects the damage after the bus crashed into Walmgate Bar in September

Robert David Lacey, a bus driver for 25 years, usually drove a single-decker vehicle through the bar but on September 15 his company gave him a double-decker to drive because the other had broken down, solicitor Jonathan Cripwell said.

Mr Cripwell added that the company did not warn him it could not go through Walmgate Bar.

Colette Dixon, prosecuting, told magistrates the bus lodged under the bar, completely blocking the road and causing minor damage.

Lacey, 47, of Abbotsford Road, York, pleaded guilty to careless driving. Magistrates fined him £125 with £30 costs and gave him three penalty points.

They said they had taken into account the fact that he hadn't been given any instructions by his company about the height of the bus and the low headroom of the bar.

Mr Cripwell said that the interior of the single-decker and double-decker buses was identical and Lacey did not realise exactly which vehicle he was driving until it was too late.

The headroom for the bar is 12ft at one end and nine feet at the other.

The bus lodged at the higher end, causing some damage to the vehicle but no injuries. Only two passengers were on board at the time.

Immediately after the incident bus company First York suspended Lacey for three days, causing him to lose £150 pay, and gave him a final written warning which lasted for 12 months.

It has also changed its operating procedures as a result of the collision so that double-decker buses are not used again on routes that cannot accommodate them.

The collision was the second time in a matter of weeks that vehicles had crashed into the bar.

Brian Asquith, general manager of First York, said: "The top and bottom of it is that the driver did not remember that he was driving a double-decker.

"But certainly it is his responsibility to know that he is not to take it through that route."

He said that all First York drivers were trained to drive both single and double-decker buses and the driver concerned had been dealt with through the company's own disciplinary procedure.

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