A MAN was arrested after a bus driver was flagged down at a bus stop on a York estate and threatened with a knife.

Nothing was stolen and the youth made off. A local man was later arrested in connection with the incident.

York Police said the bus driver was unharmed but "extremely shaken" following the attack, in the Chapelfields area of the city, at about 3.50pm yesterday.

First Group terminated its bus services in Chapelfields for an hour as a result of the attack, only resuming them after an arrest was made by police.

An 18-year-old man was still in custody at York Police Station today and will be questioned by detectives in due course.

Peter Edwards, the bus company's commercial director, said the decision was made because the company had a responsibility to the safety of its staff and customers.

The incident is not the first time the company has been forced to stop its services into the Chapelfields estate.

In May last year, services were re-routed for several weeks after a string of vehicles were attacked by vandals.

Labour ward councillor for Acomb, Coun Tracey Simpson-Laing, said her sympathies were with the driver, but she hoped the incident would not prompt the service being suspended long-term.

She said: "Obviously we don't want the bus service to be suspended for any length of time.

"Let's just hope the perpetrator of this attack gets through the justice system quickly and any penalty they get will be a warning to others."

A York Police spokesman said: "There have been a number of attacks on buses in the Chapelfields area in the past.

"The bus service is invaluable to many people on that estate, and the police would welcome relevant help from witnesses and so support the bus drivers who operate the service."

Passengers travelling on the bus or witnesses to the incident are urgently requested to phone DS Smith at York CID on 0845 6060 247.

Updated: 11:44 Saturday, January 15, 2005