IN WHAT Wyre Forest residents are calling an act of true "care in the Stourport community", a woman stopped her car in front of a bus to stop it leaving without an elderly lady who was running for it.

But, not only did the woman block the bus in, she also had to argue with the Diamond Bus driver to allow the lady, who had difficulties walking, entry to the bus because he did not recognise her right to ride because she had not reached the bus stop on time.

The bus and coach company said they are investigating the incident, which occurred in Stourport High Street on a bus going to Kidderminster Town Centre at around 2.30pm on Friday, August 14.

Rebecca Powell was the woman in the car who stopped the bus from leaving without the elderly lady, who was rushing to cross the road through traffic with bags of shopping to reach the bus on time.

"I stopped for her to come across the road and she was looking quite distressed," she said. "So I looked in my rear-view mirror and realised she was trying to reach the bus.

"I could see this poor lady, and she's got to be in her 90s, and I could see the bus driver could see her. So I stopped and helped this woman."

Once the lady had crossed the road, Ms Powell did not move her car out of the road and "blocked" the bus in the bus stop, however the bus driver refused to open his doors and simply start beeping his horn for the car to be moved.

"I got out of my car and started banging on his window and on the side of the bus shouting 'let her on' and he said 'no'. I said 'you're a public service, you haven't left the bus stop, let her on'," Ms Powell said.

An argument raged on with the driver threatening to call the police unless she moved her car out of the way, but Ms Powell refused until the bus driver allowed the elderly woman on the bus to join the other passengers on the ride to Kidderminster, which he did eventually do.

"I was looking out for this poor woman who was trying to cross the road and get where she needed to go," she added.

But, Josephine Parkinson, a witness who was in the car behind Ms Powell and next to the bus as it tried to pull out, thought it was "the most amazing display of care in the Stourport community."

She said: " I could not believe that a bus driver was so clearly against spending even one minute of time on his route to allow an elderly member of the community to board the bus. The lady was amazing and she even apologised for holding up my journey, which I was not concerned about at all when I realised the reason behind what she was doing. It is people like this in our community who need praising. I do not know this lady, but she was a wonderful example to our community. She noticed an elderly lady in a situation, which would have left her at the bus stop for another 30 minutes at the minimum, and did something about it."

More people have praised the community spirit shown by Ms Powell on a post on the "We Love Stourport-On-Severn Past and Present Day" Facebook page.

An investigation has been launched by Diamond Buses into the incident.

A spokesman from the company said: "A full investigation is underway into the circumstances surrounding the complaint made by the motorist in relation to an intending passenger being unable to board one of our services."