Young woman suffers '˜vile' racist abuse on bus in Hemel Hempstead

A number of bus routes have been scrapped

The woman, who took the bus from Bellgate to Woodhall Farm, was targeted by another passenger for speaking in a foreign language.

Imogen Gillingham, a witness to the attack on Thursday afternoon (October 18), said: “I was absolutely horrified, a middle aged man was calling her the most disgusting names, and telling her to speak f**cking English.

“He then said to the young lady ‘are you going to blow up the bus then’, ‘You might as well just put a burka on hadn’t you’”.

Imogen, of Highfield, who has been using number two buses daily for 10 years, says she has never witnessed such an attack before.

“I was shocked that such verbal attack’s are happening publicly like that,” she said.

“I’m hoping that Arriva have addressed the problem, or that they plan to address the problem. And that the police take note of my report and that the man is dealt with.”

After reporting a complaint to the driver Imogen says she tried to reassure the victim.

She said: “As I got off I told the young lady she was worth a million times more than the ignorant individuals who chose to insult her.

“Above all though, I hope the young lady knows that I’m on her side, and she knows that abusive people like that man are a small minority and that not all non-Muslim people are so hateful.

“I sincerely hope that she’s okay isn’t too badly affected by the abuse.”

An Arriva Bus spokesman said: “Arriva is conducting a full investigation into this, including reviewing CCTV and an interview with the driver.”

Police were not able to comment on the incident but recommend that anyone experiencing a hate crime should report it online or call the non-emergency number 101