The 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told police that Merediths Coaches driver Robert James Weigh, 62, of Holywell Lane, Clutton, had followed him down to the back of the bus, gone nose to nose with the boy and shouted: “I will punch you, I will throttle you, and I don’t care if there’s people on the bus”.

But Chester magistrates discovered that it was, in fact, Weigh - who has been driving school buses for more than 22 years - who was attacked by the youth on January 31.

Speaking after being acquitted at Chester Magistrates Court, Robert Weigh, who had denied assault, said: “It’s been dragging on for months and it gets you down. But I am going back to bus driving, it is what I do.”

Full story in the Country edition of Friday’s Chronicle.