Bus company suspends driver who honked horn during Remembrance Day service

The bus company whose driver honked his horn during a two-minutes silence has made a donation to the Royal British Legion.
Bus driver angers crowd after interrupting Remembrance service VIDEO: JAMES VINCENT FACEBOOKBus driver angers crowd after interrupting Remembrance service VIDEO: JAMES VINCENT FACEBOOK
Bus driver angers crowd after interrupting Remembrance service VIDEO: JAMES VINCENT FACEBOOK

Uno has suspended the driver who tried to drive through a Remembrance Day service in Cranfield after furious villagers expressed their outrage.

A spokesman for bus company Uno, which operates the C11 University bus, said: “Uno would like to apologise for any upset or disruption caused by our driver’s actions on Sunday (November 11).

“The driver in question has been suspended, pending a full investigation.

“As an expression of our regret Uno will be making a donation to the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal.”

The bus driver’s appalling behaviour was captured on video by a member of the public.

The video was originally posted on Facebook by James Vincent and has already been watched nearly 100,000 times.

The UNO bus was on the C11 route, which runs from Milton Keynes to Marston Moretaine via Cranfield.

It was in Cranfield where the driver’s determination to keep moving caused outrage and disgust among those paying their respects to the fallen.

Eyewitness and former Royal Marine Dave Gagie-Devoe said the bus had passed a road closed sign and continued moving towards the war memorial despite Police Community Support Officers trying to stop it.

He said: “The parade started at the Carpenter’s Arms and walked down to the war memorial, on the corner of High Street and Church Walk.

“The bus had passed a road-closed sign half a mile up the road. The PCSOs told him to stay put, and at one point were standing with their arms across the windscreen to try and stop him moving.

“However, he refused to switch off his engine and started to force his way forward stopped. During the two-minutes silence he sounded his horn.

“The whole village is up in arms. It has upset an awful lot of people.

There is a bus stop by the war memorial in Cranfield, which, says Mr Gagie-Devoe, the bus company would be aware of.

He said: “I rang the bus company and pointed out that if they looked at their own timetable they would see the war memorial is on the round.

“For the last 100 years there has been a service there, and there will be one for another 100 years. They can’t say they didn’t know it was going to happen!”

Cranfield resident Danny Morris is also disgusted by the bus driver’s behaviour.

He said: “The two minutes’ silence had commenced and was being observed by everyone attending the Remembrance Day service. The bus driver refused to wait, becoming embroiled in an argument with two police community support officers, then sounded his horn whilst everyone was observing the silence.

“He then attempted to force his way through the crowd whilst putting the lives of one of the PCSO’s at risk, who was attempting to assist him in taking an alternative route.

“I wonder whether he took a moment to consider the sacrifice that our service men and women made on his behalf, so he may live in a free society.

“Having reflected on his actions, I certainly hope he is thoroughly ashamed of himself and of the embarrassment he has brought on the UNO bus company as one of their representatives.”

An Uno spokesman said: “Uno would like to wholeheartedly apologise for any upset or disruption caused by our driver’s actions on Sunday.

“An investigation into the incident has been launched and unfortunately we cannot comment further at this time.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Have your say below