Aylesbury-based bus service apologises after man is nearly refused entry with assistance dog

Kieran Bagstaff was told his pet was not an assistance dog by a Redline bus driver when he was attempting to travel on the S5 service in St Albans.

Kieran has been granted an assistant dog to help him with his mental health.

Redline Buses, which operates out of an office in Aylesbury, apologised for the incident when contacting Kieran via email.

Kieran and Redline differ on what exactly transpired on the bus in St Albans.

Redline says that the driver was requesting to see Kieran’s licence before letting him onto the bus.

Kieran disagrees and claims the driver was initially flat out refusing to let him on the bus.

The Bucks Herald has seen video footage showing the end of the exchange where the driver can be heard saying he does not believe Kieran’s dog is a licenced assistance dog.

Before checking Kieran's licence and saying he will let him on the bus 'this time', the driver said he wanted to look into Kieran's case further.

Redline would not comment publicly on the incident and believes the driver was simply asking for Kieran’s licence rather than threatening to stop him from travelling.

Redline operates a discretionary animal policy with the exception of licensed animals and the driver has to make a judgement on the day of travel by requesting ID.

To avoid future disruption the bus service says it has requested to see copies of Kieran’s licences.