TWO boys were mugged after being stranded because the bus they got on had the wrong number on it.

Bus operator First Manchester has apologised over the mix-up on one of its vehicles which led to a group of children being stranded miles away from home.

One angry parent said the boys who were mugged travelled together on the First Manchester 559 bus from Westhoughton as usual after leaving school, but shortly after setting off, the driver started to take the 540 route instead.

The parent said that when the boys told him he was going the wrong way the driver said he had changed route.

While some pupils got off the bus straight away, the boys decided to travel to Bolton and catch another bus back home to Four Lane Ends.

But they were approached by a youth in the bus station, who forced one of them to hand over his bus money.

They returned home safely after the driver of a 582 bus let them on without paying, but their mothers say they are concerned about the driver's actions.

One said: "We have checked since and the route has not been permanently changed. I do not think it is right for a driver to just decide to change his route with schoolchildren on board."

A spokesman for First Manchester said: "We have now conducted a thorough internal investigation which has revealed that, during the 540 journey in question, a temporary fault with the electronic destination blind occurred, and this was subsequently reported to the depot engineering staff.

"The fault resulted in service number 559 being displayed on the front destination blind, instead of the 540. During the journey the wrong number was undetected until the driver was advised by a passenger boarding the bus.

Once informed, the driver immediately corrected the display to show the correct number. Unfortunately by that time a number of passengers had boarded the bus assuming that it was operating on the 559 route number, as originally displayed.

"We would like to apologise to any customers who may have been inconvenienced on the day by this error, and assure them that this problem has been solved, and that it will not occur again. There has been no alteration to the route operated by the 559 and there are no plans for any such change in the immediate future."