Passengers rushed to help a bus driver who had a seizure at the wheel of his vehicle yesterday morning.

The man swerved onto the wrong side of the road on Front Street while suffering what appeared to be a fit on the number two bus from Ord Road at about 7.30 a.m.

A male passenger, who asked not to be named, told that he and another man ran to the front of the bus and pulled on the handbrake to stop the vehicle from ploughing into oncoming traffic.

The 28-year-old mechanic, from Warwick, said he had noticed the driver starting to slow the vehicle down at intervals from Crow Lane roundabout.

?We got down to just by the docks in Hamilton and he pulled in. No one said anything but then he started to shake violently. The bus veered into the other side of the street and was within about five feet of hitting the cars on the other side of the road.

?Myself and another guy on the bus went forward and put the handbrake on. Some people tended to him and we took him out of his seat and laid him on the floor of the bus.?

The mechanic said two women helped to ensure the man, thought to be middle-aged, did not swallow his tongue, while another passenger called for an ambulance.

He said another bus driver arrived soon after and assisted, while security guards from the docks directed traffic around the vehicle.

?I think the heroics of the passengers saved the situation from being a lot worse,? said the man.

?With all the bad publicity that the Island gets, I think this shows that the Island has people that care and we are not all bad folks.?

He added: ?Had it happened when he was driving at full speed, say 50kph or something, it could have been a lot worse. I think that what saved us was the fact that he had stopped. I hope he?s alright now.?

A spokeswoman for the Public Transportation Board (PTB) confirmed the incident and said it was being looked into.

She said: ?PTB understands that while driving the vehicle, the operator had some form of overcoming. The bus was brought to a halt without incident or injury to passengers.

?The driver was subsequently taken to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital by ambulance where he was evaluated and examined by doctors. He has no medical history of incidents of this kind.?

A hospital spokesperson told last night that the bus driver was examined and released later that afternoon.