A BUS driver has spoken of the terrifying moment a road rage attacker boarded his vehicle and punched him in the face.

And transport and union bosses today urged courts to get tough to protect drivers after the man who assaulted Roger Gidley escaped a jail sentence.

Mr Gidley was driving his Lancashire United bus in Burnley Road, Blackburn, when the attack took place, on January 24.

When he pulled in at a stop on the Rishton to Blackburn route, 31-year-old motorist Lee Craig Clarke got on the bus and assaulted him in front of shocked passengers.

But magistrates, "handcuffed" by the decision made at a previous hearing, yesterday allowed the road rage attacker to walk free from court, despite hearing that guidelines suggested he should go to prison.

Clarke, of Dale View, Blackburn, was sentenced to 12 months community rehabilitation and ordered to pay £175 compensation and £50 costs.

Eight assaults have been reported on bus drivers in the last 12 months in Eastern Division, which covers Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley and bus companies say violence is increasing.

In Blackburn alone, bus driver assaults have risen from two in 2000 to to seven in 2001 and five in 2002. There have been four so far this year.

A spokesman for the T & G union, which represents transport workers, said: "The courts must send out a message that those who commit this sort of crime are dealt with severely."

Mr Gidley, 59, of Otterbank Gardens, Blackburn, said: "He jumped on and pushed the passengers aside and started shouting that he had his wife and kid in the car and I'd put them in danger. He pushed me against the window and punched me.

"I was shocked and shaking and the passengers came up to me asking if I was all right." Commenting on the sentence, he said: "It's a slap on the wrist really. It's not proper punishment."

The court heard that Clarke was angry because the bus driver had 'cut him up' at a roundabout.

Mr Gidley, who has been driving buses on and off since he was 21, said: "I've had verbal abuse before but never anything physical."

He said he had to take two weeks off after the attack and that the 12 bus passengers had left their names and addresses volunteering to be witnesses.

Operations director for Lancashire United Russell Revell would not comment on the sentence, but said two thirds of the 70-strong fleet at the Blackburn depot had cameras fitted because of the increasing threat of violence.

He said: "We are always keen to provide police with evidence of incidents and always press for prosecution."

Neil White, prosecuting, told the justices that the road rage attack on a public servant, together with Clarke's two previous convictions for assault indicated a prison sentence should be given.

Kevin Preston, defending, said Clarke had made an official complaint about the standard of the bus driver's driving.