• I TOO have witnessed countless passengers, often adult men at night, sail past bus drivers with a mumbled apology and an untopped-up Oyster card (Fare dodging is endemic on London’s buses, March 10).

Yet I have seen two 13-year-old girls refused a journey at 10pm in London because one of their bus passes was too ragged to use.

At one point, the driver even turfed one child off and drove off until stopping 100 yards further down the street to let her back on. The driver even called the police. When they turned up I had to explain to an officer that, given we were the responsible adults in the scenario, it was our job to make sure the girls were protected at that time of the night. Only myself and another woman on the bus seemed to understand this.

Given so many men have no problem with drivers when it comes to evading fares, I could only conclude on this occasion that the girls were being “taught a lesson” of the right of women to be out on their own at might.

CATHERINE VON RUHLAND TW12