A PENSIONER says she was left "flabbergasted" after a bus driver refused to let her on the bus with a tub of paint.

Joyce Thompson, 70, had visited the B&Q hardware store at Crittall's Corner, Sidcup, to buy a sealed container of stone-coloured paint to decorate her hallway.

But when the number 51 bus pulled up at around 9.45am today (July 30) Ms Thompson says she was told not get on with the five litre sealed container.

She said: "I struggled to the bus stop with the heavy tin of paint and was flummoxed when the woman bus driver told me I couldn't get on."

"I said 'how am I going to get home' and she just shrugged her shoulders. I got off and then the bus drove off leaving me behind."

Luckily for Ms Thompson another number 51 arrived shortly afterwards and she boarded without any comment from the bus driver about her choice of shopping.

Ms Joyce, of Foxbury Drive, Chelsfield, then continued her journey into Orpington.

She added: "I was just so angry when I got home.

"I wouldn't have minded so much if the bus driver had been more sympathetic but she just didn't seem bothered.

"I don't know what I would have done if I couldn't have got on - I would have been stranded.

"I could understand if it was something like petrol or paraffin but paint? I was flabbergasted."

A Transport for London spokesman said: "The Public Service Vehicle Regulations allow drivers to refuse passage to anyone carrying articles which might be a safety hazard or could damage the vehicle or other passengers' property.

"As paint is flammable and can cause considerable damage if spilled, we would ask that anyone carrying it on our services minimise the risk of spillage by placing paint cans inside another bag or container so that the bus driver is confident there is not an unnecessary risk to the vehicle or other passengers. "