A bus driver was forced to pull over after passengers became unwell in a “concerning” pepper spray incident.
A 25-year-old woman was doused in the face with the suspect liquid just before getting on the bus between Paisley Gilmour Street station and Bishopton on Saturday afternoon.
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It’s understood the victim and a man got on the coach together around noon.
The driver and some of the other passengers on board started to feel ill with streaming eyes and noses.
He stopped the bus in Greenock Road, Bishopton, to investigate and the pair got off.
Following police enquiries, it emerged the woman had been sprayed in the face just before stepping on the rail replacement bus in Paisley.
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She was taken to hospital where she was checked over and later released.
Inspector Jim Cast, from Johnstone Renfrew and the villages community policing team, said the incident is “concerning”.
He said: “This was an unusual incident whereby passengers on a bus travelling between Paisley Gilmour Street station on a replacement bus service towards Bishopton began to feel unwell on Saturday afternoon.
“Enquiries revealed that a female passenger had been sprayed with a substance – believed to be pepper spray – prior to getting on the bus.
“Other passengers and the driver were affected by the substance in the air.
“She was checked over at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley and later released.”
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He added: “It is illegal to be in possession of pepper spray without a reasonable excuse and it is illegal because it can be very dangerous as this incident has shown.
“This was concerning for everyone involved. Thankfully, no one was more seriously affected, but clearly the outcome could have been far more serious.”
A Police Scotland spokesman confirmed a 41-year-old man had been arrested in connection with alleged firearms offences.
