A MOTHER claims a bus driver refused to stop despite his erratic driving, causing her three-year-old to fall and hit his head.
An investigation is now underway after the complaint by Denise Draper who says her son, Junior, had to be taken to hospital and is now too scared to use a bus.
Mrs Draper, of Adams Way, Woodside, got the T130 bus from New Addington on August 8.
She said: "I made him go in front of me so he could find a seat while I pressed my Oyster card.
"But just as I was doing, the driver lurched the bus forward really fast and my son hurtled forward and slammed his head against the sharp edge of the step.
"I was so scared, I sat on the floor with him, trying to calm him down because he was screaming his head off and tried to call out to the bus driver to get him to stop."
Luckily, a fellow passenger, Inder Jutlay, came to the mother's aid.
"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," he said.
"The mother was really panicked and didn't know what to do. I helped them sit down and looked at the little man's head.
"He had a big swollen mark coming up with a line on it where he'd hit his head.
"I shouted at the driver to stop so the boy could calm down.
"I know he could hear me because he was looking at us but he kept on driving just as quickly.
"I told her to get the kid's head checked out and gave her my number in case she needed any help."
Mrs Draper took her son to the nearest minor injuries walk-in centre and was told to take him to A&E if his condition got worse.
She then decided to demand an investigation from Metrobus with a description of the incident and a supporting witness statement from Mr Jutlay.
"If that had been my son, I would take it a lot further," Mr Jutlay said.
"It showed just a terrible lack of concern from the driver.
"He knew exactly what was going on and didn't care at all what was happening."
The mother said her son was now terrified of going on buses which made travelling a nightmare because the family does not own a car.
Mrs Draper added: "We've got no way else of getting around and it makes it really difficult with Junior now."
A Metrobus spokesman said: "'Unfortunately we only received the complaint yesterday [Tuesday] about an incident on our route 130 and are investigating it as a matter of urgency and will take any necessary action from the outcome of any findings."
