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A BUS driver was punched in the face six times by another angry driver in the heat of an argument over parking.

Neil Gibbons, 60, attacked a bus driver in Ledbury after trying to park next to a bus stop on February 1.

Hereford Magistrates' Court heard earlier this month that the attack began at around 7.30am when Gibbons lost his temper during the parking dispute.

The self-employed plasterer, who lives at Ledbury's Belle Orchard Close, had stopped outside a newsagent in Ledbury to buy his daily paper when the confrontation began, with Gibbons telling the driver: "I've had enough of you lot" and the driver responding: "I'm in a bus stop, mate."

According to defence solicitor Matt Lewis, the driver got out of the bus and "launched a tirade of abuse and threats of violence".

Prosecuting solicitor Jack Taylor said that Gibbons then got into the bus and punched the driver in the face six times, causing him to suffer a split lip and a sore tooth.

Gibbons was pushed off the bus, and then went into the shop to buy his paper as usual.

He entered a guilty plea to one count of assaulting a person occasioning them actual bodily harm when he appeared before magistrates.

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Mr Lewis, mitigating, said: "Gibbons was threatened and his response was to display his feelings."

Magistrates fined Gibbons £576 and ordered him to pay compensation of £200 to the bus driver.

He must also pay prosecution costs of £85 and a £230 victim surcharge.