A BUS company has been inundated with complaints after a passenger claimed one of its drivers ordered her son off the bus for wearing an England shirt.

First Bus said about 30 people phoned and emailed the business in reaction to allegations that a driver had found two-year-old Dylan Hall's football top offensive.

The firm said it could find no concrete evidence to back up the claims made by mum Sam Fardon, aged 27, below, from Trent Vale.

First Bus commercial director Paul de Santis said: "As time has gone we have reached the conclusion that the incident did not happen.

"We have not been able to find any credible witnesses. And we have not been able to confirm the identity of the driver at the centre of the allegation.

"We believe it to be highly unlikely that it happened. If this is the case that is extremely concerning to us. It's not only damaged our reputation, but could have put our staff in danger through potential reprisals."

His comments came after Miss Fardon had said that she and her son were only allowed on the bus after other passengers intervened.

She told The Sentinel the incident happened last Thursday morning as she went to take her son to a toddler group in Chesterton.

Miss Fardon said: "As we got on the bus, my two-year-old son had an England shirt on and the bus driver, who had an Eastern European accent, said he found it offensive.

"He said, 'he won't be wearing that during the World Cup, will he?' I said Dylan would and the bus driver said, 'I find that really offensive'. I couldn't believe it.

"He said we'd have to get off the bus but I argued with him and other passengers backed me up, so he let us on."

First Bus launched an inquiry after being informed of the complaint, which prompted a string of complaints and people who claimed to have seen the incident.

Mr de Santis said: "We have received a large number of adverse comments from customers and people who claim to have seen the incident.

"We asked one to provide a supporting statement because of the serious complaint made about one of our drivers. It was then that the person claimed the incident had happened on the Monday (when The Sentinel had gone to press)."

"We are a multicultural employer and proud to be so and will give our full support to England's World Cup campaign."

Miss Fardon was yesterday unavailable for comment.