London bus drivers warn their work conditions are causing fatigue

Ms Robertson said passengers, pedestrians and cyclists were making the job more difficult, and little support was coming from the bus companies.

“The buses are getting more and more packed, it’s unsafe conditions – the passengers don’t care. The cabs are freezing in the winter and too hot in the summer. Where’s it all going to end?

“If you do a12-hour shift and you get a 40-minute break, in that 40 minutes, you’ve got to leave your bus, find somewhere to go, go to the toilet, wash your hands and have something to eat.

“Then you do a 12-hour shift – you get to the other end of the route, and what used to be called recovery time, now they call it stand time, used to be 10 to 15 minutes. Now it’s lucky to get five minutes. Some stand times have been cut to three minutes. It’s no time at all.

“It’s just too stressful. You go home and you’re tired. Driving is tiring mentally. Your passengers are your priority. We have to make sure that they are safe. I think people need to be more aware and be kinder to us.”