Stagecoach is investigating a drunken fracas on a Tayside coach.
Perthshire mum Gail Findlay has told how she stood up to rowdy teenagers on the busy commuter service between Perth and Dundee.
The two youngsters were caught drinking and smoking on the bus, but refused to leave when ordered off by the driver.
It led to a stand-off at rural Glencarse, where the young men threatened to assault Mrs Findlay’s husband.
Eventually, the pair agreed to get off some 20 miles from their stop when Mrs Findlay told them she was phoning the police.
The 43-year-old said she was surprised that, throughout the ordeal, no men on the bus stepped up to help.
“My big concern is that my 14-year-old daughter uses this bus and I would hate to think that she would have to put up with something like that,” she said.
Stagecoach is now probing the altercation and will look at measures to avoid similar incidents in the future.
Mrs Findlay, of St Madoes, caught the number 16 to Dundee after work at a Perth solicitors’ office on Thursday.
The two, aged between 14 and 18, didn’t have any cash but were allowed on for free. Stagecoach said the driver took a note of their addresses so they could chase them for payment at a later date.
The company has a policy of not leaving young and vulnerable people stranded, even if they have no money.
“They sat down near me near the back and as soon as we left the bus stop, they started smoking and drinking from a bottle of cider,” said Mrs Findlay.
“At first I thought I would ignore them, but then I thought: Why should I have to deal with this?” she said. “I told them: ‘You got on this bus for free, you should show a bit of respect to the driver and the other passengers’.
“But they were having none of it and were saying: ‘What are you going to do about it?’.”
When the coach stopped at Glencarse, Mrs Findlay reported the teens to the driver.
“They were refusing to get off and were starting to get aggressive,” said Mrs Findlay. “When I said I was calling my husband to pick me up, they said he was going to ‘get his head panned in’.”
They eventually agreed to leave after a stand-off which lasted several minutes.
“What really shocked me was that, apart from a couple of ladies, no one else on the bus came to my defence,” she said. “There was a big, burly guy sitting near me who didn’t say a word throughout the whole experience.”
A spokeswoman for Stagecoach East Scotland said: “We have been made aware of the antisocial behaviour of two passengers who were under the influence of alcohol on route 16 on Thursday evening and are currently investigating the full circumstances in the hope of preventing such behaviour in the future and assisting with our ongoing driver training.”