A PASSENGER has told of the terrifying moment his foot became trapped in a bus’s door as the vehicle started moving off on the A19 near York.

Rob McCartney, 31, said he had to hop along the road on the other leg until the driver realised what had happened and stopped the Arriva bus.

But he claimed that if he had been a child or an elderly woman, it would have been a different story, and even he might have been killed if another five seconds had passed by before the driver realised his foot was stuck in the automatic door.

He said the incident happened at Escrick when he was trying to get off the Selby-York bus to go to work, and the road there was ‘always bad, but at 8 in the morning it’s manic.’

He said: “It was terrifying. It scared the living daylights having my foot trapped in a bus door -as it would anyone! I had to hop along on one leg as I couldn’t pull my foot out.

“Since the incident, my anxiety has been through the roof and I have been referred to see a psychologist.

“It is absolutely shocking what has happened. My heart is constantly in my mouth and every little thing is making me jump.”

Mr McCartney, of Selby, said the driver had been very apologetic and he had subsequently complained to Arriva.

He felt it was morally right for the company to compensate him for what he could only describe as ‘an utterly terrifying moment, given the A19 was packed with cars, wagons and lorries at morning rush hour.’

However, he said he had initially had to chase up the complaint and said the firm had then refused to settle the matter quickly and told him he must seek legal advice.

It had also initially refused to let him have CCTV footage of the incident, although it had now backed down on this issue, and said it would be sent to him.

“This has now dragged on for over two months,” he said.

“All I want is an apology and a fair compensation offer for what was a life-threatening incident.”

In correspondence with Mr McCartney, a claims handler from insurance brokers for Arriva said that having viewed the CCTV footage personally, she could see that his foot had been trapped in the door and the driver had started to move whilst it was still there and then released his foot.

“We can only offer our apologies on behalf of Arriva Yorkshire,” she said.

“As we mentioned earlier, the driver will be dealt with at depot level. However, we are not party to this, as it is subject to employee confidentiality.”

Jon Croxford, managing director for Arriva Yorkshire, told The Press: “Firstly, I would like to apologise to Mr McCartney for any distress this incident may have caused.

“We are making arrangements to send the CCTV footage to him.”

He added: “As this is an on-going case we are unable to comment on this any further.”