A BUS driver is to be questioned by his bosses after he was caught on a mobile phone camera giving a V-sign to a motorist.

Prestwich couple Robin and Esther Seymour were stunned when the driver of a double-decker First bus made the gesture during an alleged road-rage incident.

It is claimed he had hurled a torrent of verbal abuse at them. Then he made the obscene hand gestures and Mrs Seymour captured them on her mobile phone.

Bus company First have apologised for the driver's behaviour and say they have launched a full investigation into the matter, although they say they will not make the outcome public.

Mrs Seymour and her husband, who was behind the wheel of their Audi TT, were waiting to turn out of Heathlands Village residential home in Prestwich onto Kersal Road when the incident took place on Saturday (Sept 24).

A number 93 bus heading towards Manchester stopped just past the junction, blocking the road.

The Seymours say they waited for the bus to move and then beeped their car horn at the driver to ask him to move forward.

Mrs Seymour (27) said: "We managed to reverse back and drive around it, which angered him, because he then tried to pull out in front of us and edge us off the road.

"We beeped him again as he almost drove into us, which resulted in the driver leaning out of his window and abusing us. I was horrified."

Mr Seymour slowed down the car so that his wife could use the camera on her mobile phone to take the registration plate of the bus and report the driver to his manager.

When the driver saw what they were doing, Mrs Seymour said he hurled more abuse at them.

Mrs Seymour said: "He drove right up to us and posed for us by sticking up the V-sign. Then he leaned out the window and asked my husband to 'come and have a go', then called us more names.

"We told him that we would report him to his manager, and his response was more V-signs and that he couldn't care less. This was all conducted in an extremely aggressive manner."

There were between 10 and 15 passengers on the bus at the time, and Mrs Seymour says she is outraged by the service provided by the driver.

She said: "I have already told my mum not to get the bus any more and I will happily pay for taxis for her. I will not put my mum, who is of pensionable age, or anyone else I care about in that kind of volatile environment."

Bus company First say are looking into the incident, and say they will inform Mrs Seymour of the result of their investigation.

First's service delivery director for Manchester operations, Bob Mason, said: "All the details of this incident, as reported to us by Mrs Seymour herself, have been carefully recorded in our CareLine customer care system. We will now conduct a full and thorough investigation of the circumstances, part of which will, of course, include a full interview with the driver.

"On behalf of the company I'd like to extend our apologies to Mr and Mrs Seymour for any distress they have suffered as a consequence of this entirely unacceptable event."