CHARTERED Tim Nicholson is doing his bit to save the planet - by riding a folding bike to work.

So he was astonished when an Oxford Bus Company driver told him he couldn't take his grey Brompton bike on the X13 bus from Abingdon to Oxford - because it wasn't in a bag.

Mr Nicholson, 39, of Rogers Street, Summertown, ran into trouble when he tried to board the bus with his folding bike at 5.40pm on Monday on his way to a work meeting at Milton Park, near Didcot.

He said: "I have never experienced a problem before but this particular driver was being difficult.

"He got pretty stroppy and said 'I am not taking you', so I got off the bus and phoned the company and was reassured that I could take the bike on the bus provided it was in a bag.

"I put the bike in a bag, pressed the emergency button because the driver had shut the door and got back on the bus, but he refused to let me travel.

"What happened really upset me because we should all be doing our utmost to use sustainable forms of transport and I thought it was out of order that this driver was being so difficult."

Two years ago, Mr Nicholson and fianceé Joanne Bowlt completed a charity journey from Oxford to Oxford in New Zealand in a 50-year-old Morris Oxford. Mr Nicholson said: "We encountered quite a few jobsworths along the way but in the end you could get where you wanted to go - this guy refused to see sense.

OBC general manager Louisa Weeks said: "We welcome folding bikes on our buses as long as they are in a bag. This is to stop oil and grease from the bike coming into contact with other passengers.

"When Mr Nicholson boarded the bus the driver politely informed him that he was unable to take the bike in that condition.

"While the driver was dealing with another passenger Mr Nicholson got off and the driver, who was at least ten minutes late as a result of Mr Nicholson's action, shut the door and prepared to set off.

"Mr Nicholson then operated the emergency-only button in an attempt to open the door. This is very dangerous and if the bus had already started to pull out into the traffic it could have caused a serious accident.

"It was for that reason that the driver refused to allow Mr Nicholson to travel."