A wheelchair user is furious after fellow passengers had to help him off a bus when the driver refused to lower the ramp.

The bus company has launched an inquiry into the incident in which disabled Stephen Sunter was left struggling to get off the access bus in his wheelchair.

Mr Sunter, of Fagley, said it would have been dangerous for him to disembark without the aid of the ramp after the First bus driver pulled up to a bus stop leaving a graduated gap between the vehicle and the pavement.

"He pulled in at an angle and it would have been dangerous for me to get off," said Mr Sunter, 45, who said the wheels of his wheelchair would have got stuck in the gap.

But when the father-of-two asked the driver to lower the ramp he said his request was refused.

"Several other passengers came to my aid when he refused point blank, and another passenger lowered the ramp for me.

"It was the only way I could get off," he said.

Mr Sunter, who suffers from excruciating back pain, had been on his way to a hospital appointment at Bradford Royal Infirmary via his GP's surgery at around 10.40am last Friday.

Keith Roebuck, the team development manager at First, said an investigation had been launched.

"The buses have a kneeling and ramp facility and I know it makes life easier for less able customers to travel," he said.

"I would expect my staff to give assistance if they were able to, and I don't know why that hasn't happened on this occasion."

All drivers in charge of buses with access facilities are trained to use the equipment properly.

Mr Sunter said he had felt hurt after the driver's refusal to help.

"I have spent most of a year house-bound, waiting for a wheelchair to become available.

"It's given me a whole new lease of life," said Mr Sunter, who said he has recently signed up for a part-time college course.

"I have come across really good drivers who are really helpful and I can't praise them enough.

"It's a minority who have this attitude," he said, adding it was not the first time he had experienced problems on buses because of his wheelchair.

"I had one incident where I lost control of the chair because the ramp had been lowered too steeply.

"The impact jolted through my body and it left me unable to do anything for several days," he said.

Mr Sunter said he and at least one other passenger who had been travelling on the bus had complained about the incident.

"I think a driver with an attitude like that should be dismissed," he said.