THAMES Travel have said one of its staff members involved in a racism storm has 'no case to answer' - and that the company could introduce body cameras for staff.
A disabled grandmother alleged that she was subjected to racist abuse by a ticket inspector on a bus in Wallingford in January.
Bushera Ahmad, 59, claimed she was called a ‘lying, thieving P**i’ on a service between Oxford and Reading, while her daughter in law and two grandchildren watched on.
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But Thames Travel has concluded an investigation and said that its revenue protection official, who was working on the X38 service on January 9, has no case to answer.
The organisation, along with its sister companies the Oxford Bus Company and Carousel Buses, are investigating introducing body and head cameras for revenue protection officials to wear while on duty, 'to ensure that any allegations made in future can be more promptly investigated'.
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Managing Director Phil Southall explained: “A Thames Valley Police investigation into an allegation of racist behaviour by a revenue protection official, made by a passenger, has concluded there is no case to answer.
“Thames Travel takes any allegation of racism, or any other inappropriate behaviour very seriously and fully co-operated with the police investigation. No action has been taken against my colleague."
The official, who was not named, stood accused of pocketing Pakistani-born Mrs Arshad's bus pass and racially abusing her on a River Rapids service between Reading and Oxford.
Mr Southall continued: "It is also equally important that the company does everything within its power to protect colleagues from allegations being made against them whilst they are carrying out their duties as the company expects them to do."
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“As a result of this experience we are now investigating introducing head-cams and body-cams for colleagues to wear while on duty to protect them from unfounded allegations.
“TFL in London and rail companies have successfully introduced body-cams on their networks and they have proven to be very useful in the event of incidents.”
Thames Valley Police began investigating the incident in January and Thames Travel said CCTV would be examined, but no further details have been released.
The family were asked by the Oxford Mail to comment on the findings but failed to respond.
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