A WOMAN assaulted a bus driver in Poole before telling him: "I hope you catch the coronavirus".

The incident took place moments before the woman left the bus and followed an earlier raft of verbal abuse towards the driver of the Morebus service.

Police reported that a man and a woman got on the bus in Longfleet Road and attempted to pay for two tickets with a quantity of change at around 11.10pm on Tuesday, April 28 - in the midst of the coronavirus lockdown.

The bus driver asked if they could pay using a contactless card, which is the preferred payment method due to Covid-19.

The woman was then verbally abusive toward the bus driver but the man proceeded to pay by card and they sat down on the bus.

Around 10 minutes later, the woman reportedly went to the front of the bus and leant around the protective screen where the driver was sitting and demanded his name and number, before grabbing him by his clothing and stating: “I hope you catch the coronavirus”.

Officers investigating the assault have issued a CCTV image of a woman they would like to speak to. 

PC Sian Maynard, of Dorset Police, said: “Following enquiries I have obtained a CCTV image of a woman I would like to speak to as part of my investigation to establish the full circumstances of the incident.

“I would ask anyone who recognises her to please get in touch.”

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Dorset Police by calling 101, quoting occurrence number 55200060424.