An NHS nurse was to told leave a bus after the driver refused to accept her £20 note, it has been claimed.
The nurse, who was travelling from St Helens to Whiston Hospital, tried to board a bus at around 6.30am on Thursday but says she was asked to leave the bus when the driver refused to accept her £20 note.
A taxi driver, who later collected the nurse and drove her to work, said the nurse even showed the driver her NHS pass to prove she was a nurse.
Joe Millea, 59, from St Helens, a driver for Britannia Taxis, says he picked up the nurse on Prescot Road at around 6.30am on Thursday.
He says that the woman was visibly 'upset' when she got into his cab and shocked at the incident.
Joe told the ECHO : "I picked up the lady at 6.30am and she told me that she had tried to get on a bus before she called the cab.
"She was very upset when she got in the cab. She told me she'd been waiting for the bus for about 20 minutes.
"She only had a £20 note on her, and didn't have a card. She said the driver would only accept change and told her she had to leave the bus."
Joe said that the story left him feeling "disgusted" and that he found it "unbelievable" that the nurse was asked to leave the bus.
He added: "It disgusted me enough to speak out about it.
"With everything that's going on at the moment we should be supporting NHS staff not chucking them off a bus at 6am.
"It really is unbelievable that it could happen and that it almost stopped a nurse from getting to her shift on time.
"I think that the bus company should take responsibility for this because it's shameful.
"At the time I just thought that it was disgraceful and that nobody should get away with it."
