Published: Wednesday, 3rd June, 2009 3:16pm

Bus driver's syringe hell

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A BUS company is considering stopping routes through Johnstone after a SECOND driver allegedly got stabbed by a junkie"s needle.

A Phoenix driver is said to have been attacked in the centre of the town by a sick thug who demanded money to feed his drug habit.

The suspect boarded the bus in the Ferguslie area of Paisley and sat quietly until Johnstone.

Reports claim he then started trying to talk to the driver and demanded cash from him.

When the terrified 38-year-old driver refused, the drug addict allegedly stabbed him with a syringe on his right shoulder.

Although he made off without any cash as the bus stopped outside 49 Graham Street, the driver now faces the prospect of undergoing nerve-wracking blood tests.

This is the second time a driver from the Renfrew-based company has been attacked by a junkie in recent months.

In March, the Gazette exclusively revealed how driver Tommy Gracie was recovering after being stabbed by a needle.

He was assaulted as he drove passengers from Johnstone to Paisley.

Tommy has just had the all-clear from doctors, but this second alleged attack has shocked fellow workers.

One driver at the bus depot on Kirkaig Avenue, Deanpark, said: 'You just don"t know what"s going to happen.

'We want to get on with the job but there is the possibility that something like this can happen again and it"s scared everyone.'

Night services through the Ferguslie and Foxbar area have already been cancelled as a result of the alleged sick attack.

The disgusted manager of Phoenix Buses told the Gazette: 'The driver is absolutely shocked and is off work.

'He has just welcomed a new baby to his family and now can"t even share a cup in case he has caught something.

'He is the second driver to have had this happen.

'It was only last week another of my drivers got the all clear after he was stabbed with a needle.

'This incident obviously puts us in a difficult situation - we will have to re-think our routes.'

Police have arrested a Johnstone man in alleged conjunction with the incident which is said to have happened at 11.30am on May 26.