THEY have been shot at, robbed, stuck in traffic jams for hours on end and been the victims of countless road-rage incidents.

And now city council leaders have turned their wrath on the employees of York's biggest bus company.

But today the bus drivers hit back, slating City of York Council for what they say is unjustified condemnation of First York.

The Evening Press reported last week how council leader Rod Hills branded First York "a disgrace" for failing to provide a reliable service.

But bus driver Steve Middlemass said today that changes in services that had left passengers waiting at the side of the road had been brought in by North Yorkshire County Council and a cut in funding by City of York Council and were out of the company's hands.

He said the buck was always passed on to the bus companies, and while the city council condemned the company, it was the bus drivers who had to endure the wrath and dissatisfaction of customers.

"Besides listening to and reassuring disgruntled passengers, we have to endure acts of road rage from ignorant motorists almost every day," said Mr Middlemass, who has driven for the company for less than a year.

"Some drivers have been physically assaulted and verbally abused, shot at with airguns, had bricks thrown at them and their buses and had their takings stolen from under their noses.

"We sit in traffic jams from morning to evening, not just rush hours but constant congestion caused by never-ending roadworks.

"We are responsible for taking hundreds of children to and from school everyday, we ensure commuters get to work, students get to school and shoppers get to the shops.

"And if this job isn't hard enough, we have to cope with cyclists weaving in and out of traffic and pedestrians walking on the road.

"Late-night revellers are ferried to nightclubs and taken home after a night on the town."

Mr Middlemass, 35, said some people felt the need to ring or write and complain when things did not go their way.

"If only they did the same to pay compliments to drivers who have been kind, friendly, courteous and helpful, I'm sure they would heavily outweigh the complaints," he said.

First York general manager Brian Asquith welcomed Mr Middlemass's comments but declined to comment further.