Bus driver left unconscious after attack

A bus driver lay unconscious in the street while paramedics refused to leave their ambulance in the face of marauding youths.

About 15 young people aged between 12 and 15 refused to leave an bus in Christchurch when it finished its run at the Eastgate Mall about midnight on Saturday.

The driver told them the Orbiter bus was returning to the Ensors Rd depot, but they refused to get off and stayed on the bus until it reached the depot a short distance away.

Leopard bus company managing director Brent Early said the group -- including several young girls -- then began assaulting the driver.

Another bus driver stopped to help his colleague "but the youths laid into him virtually before he got out of the door".

"The second driver was the one who was badly hurt, but both drivers were assaulted," he said.

The driver, in his 50s, is still in Christchurch Hospital today with severe bruising and suspected spinal injuries.

When St John Ambulance paramedics arrived, they initially refused to leave their ambulance because the youths were still hanging around.

"The driver was lying there unconscious for some time until the police arrived and the ambulance officers took over," Mr Early said.

The man suffered cuts and severe bruising to his head, neck and back. His injuries were to be assessed at Burwood Hospital's spinal unit today.

Mr Early said he was a "very experienced" driver who had been with the company for a number of years.

Such incidents were "irregular but increasing in frequency".

"There seems to be a growing problem with youths congregating in reasonable numbers and using the buses for transport between the malls," Mr Early said.

"They just seem to be using an opportunist moment to steal from the driver, abuse him or vandalise the bus."

He said police would be studying video surveillance tapes from cameras on the bus and at Palms Mall where the youths boarded the bus.

- NZPA