ARMED police swooped on a bus in York after reports of a man with a knife - but found a gardener with a pruning tool, an eyewitness has claimed.

The bus was stopped by police on Haxby Road, at the end of Rose Street, opposite Haxby Road School at 4.20pm yesterday.

A bus passenger said he was sitting on the top floor of the number 5 to Strensall when police carrying guns and Tasers came up the stairs and asked if anyone had seen someone with a knife.

He said: "The police said that there were reports of a man with a knife on board.

"We were all asked to get off the bus.

"They were talking to a man who regularly gets on the bus with his pruning knife and other gardening equipment.

"They were very apologetic but fortunately another university bus arrived for us."

North Yorkshire Police said that they received a call from a concerned member of the public that a man was in possession of a knife on a bus travelling through Haxby.

The force said: "Officers attended and spoke with the man who was carrying the knife as it related to his occupation and no offences had been committed."