First off: I am no longer a bus operator [Watch this space as ongoing events may prove the preceding obsolete.]

Second: I drove, when I was a bus operator, for MetroLine, not Arriva.

Third, and finally: Apart from the objection about the lead (US: leash) and Health & Safety, for which the driver has a point, I would never have spoken to any passenger in that way. You know me better than that, DT.

Dogs are indeed allowed on double decker buses only - their owners must pay a child's fare for them, but now that Mayor "Red" Ken [Livingstone] has allowed free travel for all children under 17years, dogs must ride for free as well - yet no-one ever objected to dogs being on leads or otherwise. The only rule is that dogs must be carried on the top deck of the bus or not at all.

"Freaks," on the other hand - a highly subjective term in any case - are certainly allowed to travel as long as the correct fare is paid.

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Count me in on the journey, don't expect me to stay.