A DOG owner says she is being forced to take taxis and can’t use public transport after a bus driver banned her dog from his vehicle.

Pensioner Pat Close, from Thomas Street, Brightlingsea, tried to take her 12-year-old lapdog, Jimpy, to her nearest vet in Wivenhoe on the 78X, run by Cedric’s Coaches.

However, the driver told her the small dog was not allowed on the bus.

Mrs Close, 73, said: “Dog owners are being penalised. There is no vet in Brightlingsea and the nearest one is in Wivenhoe.

“I always use the bus and I wanted to visit my daughter and great grand-daughter in Bury St Edmunds on the bus with my dog, but now I will have to get a taxi to Colchester.

“It has made things very difficult for a lot of people in Brightlingsea, particularly elderly women, as there are many here who own dogs.”

Cedric’s Coaches declined to comment.