It should have been a dignified send-off for a much-loved mother and grandmother, This is London reports. Eileen Scriven's family were determined to have a traditional London funeral, complete with a pair of plumed black horses to pull the hearse. But an impatient bus driver turned the event into what the grieving family described today as "a public spectacle". Determined not to be held up, the driver was apparently seized by a fit of road rage and pulled out from a bus stop before attempting to push his way past the funeral cortège. His shouting and revving of the bus's engine spooked the horses that were pulling Mrs. Scriven's coffin, covered in floral tributes and cards.

When the funeral director politely asked the driver to wait a few minutes — the cortège was just a few hundred yards from the cemetery — he was almost pushed off his feet by the moving bus. The driver then shouted at mourners, terrifying Mrs. Scriven's seven grandchildren and reducing several other people to tears. Eventually, the whole cortège, including two black limousines and two minibuses flying black flags, was forced to stop and let the bus and its embarrassed passengers sail past.

The driver of the Arriva B15 bus has since been sacked. Mrs. Scriven, 69, whose sons Daniel and Lee and daughter Maxine Austen were among the mourners, died suddenly two days after suffering a chest infection at the nursing home where she had lived for 11 years. The incident happened less than 550 yards from Hillview Cemetery in Welling after passing the stationary bus at a stop in Bellegrove Road. Mrs. Austen, 46, from Bexleyheath, said: "The driver showed no respect at all. It was road rage of the highest degree. "The family had been traumatized by my mother's death. Then we were made a public spectacle on the way to her funeral. It completely ruined the day and tarnished the memory."

Funeral director Jon Dyer said the bus driver became irritated when he realised he would be stuck behind the slow-moving hearse and shouted at him that the bus should be allowed to move in front of the cortège. But when he walked round to the bus to try to reason with the man, he claimed he was "nudged" along the street by the driver, who kept his engine running and let the bus continue rolling forward. Mr, Dyer, 27, said: "We always travel in front with flashing lights when we have horses because it is so difficult for them in traffic but the bus tried to pull out directly behind me and in front of the horses. Luckily, the horses are very well disciplined. One lost a shoe. "I thought he may have pulled out by mistake, so I got out of the car and asked him to keep the bus where it was so the cortège could get past but he drove the bus into me and pushed me along the road until he reached the traffic islands. All the passengers on the bus were shaking their heads and Mrs Scriven's sons were out of their funeral car and shouting. The driver ignored everyone."

Eventually, the lead funeral car moved out of the way to allow the bus through. Mr. Dyer added: "I have never seen anything quite like it. The family were so upset, with the grandchildren screaming and friends in tears. It broke my heart that they should suffer like that on what was already a very upsetting day."

Mrs. Scriven's family complained to Arriva, which sacked the driver after a disciplinary hearing. An Arriva spokesman said: "Our sincerest apologies go to the family of the late. Mrs Scriven, the funeral director and anyone else who was upset by the actions of our driver. Our employees are trained to high standards and we would expect them to treat any funeral processions with respect and dignity.”