A Muslim man was thrown off a National Express coach in Bristol after a passenger said they felt “uncomfortable” because he was a Muslim, the Bristol Post reports.

The man had boarded the coach at Bristol Coach Station at 10.30am on Thursday, but was told to leave by a member of National Express staff after a woman said she would feel “uncomfortable” travelling with him.

Passengers were told the man had been asked to leave because he had too much luggage, however Rebekah Makinde, a University of Bristol student, said the complaints were clearly made because of the man’s religion.

She told the Bristol Post: “I couldn’t really believe what I was seeing”.

“As soon as he got on the coach, the women at the front were just silent and staring at him. They were making their feelings very obvious.

“As soon as the man sat down, one of the women went to speak to the driver. Another member of staff then came on and asked the man to get off. He didn’t protest or anything, he just got off.

“What disgusted me the most was that someone actually thanked the woman after he left.”

“I heard the entire exchange between the woman and the driver and I know luggage was not the reason he was asked to leave.”

“I understand that drivers want their passengers to feel comfortable. But not if it stems from someone’s unfounded and Islamophobic beliefs and at the expense of another paying passenger. I am truly appalled.

Nick McDonald was also travelling on the same coach said: “I heard the group of women at the front of the coach say he looked ‘shifty’. She got off the coach to make a complaint and the next thing a man wearing a National Express vest got on and asked him to get off. If the man was carrying too many bags, why was he allowed to board the coach in the first place? It wasn’t until the woman said she felt uncomfortable that he was asked to leave.”

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