A mum was left close to tears after she claims an Arriva driver refused to accept her £5 note because he didn't have any change.
Treece Duffy wants to thank the kind stranger who stepped in to help her after she was left feeling "panic-stricken and embarrassed" when trying to board the 414 bus to Woodside, Wirral.
Treece attempted to board the bus on Twickenham Drive in Leasowe with her son Sam, 14, who has autism, shortly after 8am on Monday, October 4.
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But the 39-year-old claims the driver would not accept a £5 note for the £3.50 fare on the grounds that he didn't have any change.
After scraping together what change she did have and asking her son for £1, Treece said she was still 35p short.
She tried to do a bank transfer in order to pay by card but when she realised she didn't have enough money in her account, Treece claims the driver told her "well you'll have to get the next bus."
Arriva has apologised "for any inconvenience or distress caused by this incident" and said the matter is being investigated.
Treece said: "I felt ashamed and very anxious by this point and was about to cry.
"I told him I'd get the next bus and as we were just about to step off a lovely young lady came and offered to pay for our tickets.
"I felt embarrassed but so very grateful, she got her bank card out and paid for us. Then we said thank you to the lady and sat down."
Treece shared what happened on Facebook in the hope of finding the woman to thank her again for her kindness.
She wrote: "I would like to thank the amazing young lady who paid for me and my son on the bus just now, didn't have enough change, driver wouldn't take a fiver and I was about to start crying with a panic attack.
"This lady helped in more ways than she realised.
"Thank you so much, I hope you see this. The 414 bus to Woodside, 8.03am xx"
Do you think passengers should be expected to carry the correct change for a bus journey? Let us know in the comments section.
An Arriva spokesperson said: "We apologise for any inconvenience or distress caused by this incident.
"When paying cash on-board we encourage customers to pay with the correct change as our drivers only means of obtaining change whilst on the road is by the change tendered to them.
However, travel should have been allowed on the understanding that if our driver still didn’t have the change needed by the end of the customers journey, then they would need to arrange to collect their change from the local depot.
"This matter is currently being investigated."
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