A man was left stunned when he saw a ticket inspector "force" a young girl off a bus.

Rick Lamb was travelling on the 433 last week when he says a ticket inspector got on, fined a young girl and "forced" her off the bus.

"This was despite her producing a valid (albeit low quality) child's Oyster Card," Mr Lamb said.

"Despite two other passengers offering to pay for the girl who was visibly extremely upset, the inspector angrily dismissed their grievances and threatened to call the police on the two passengers who were simply trying to help, also claiming that he would call the police if the girl in question would not leave the bus."

But TfL’s director of compliance, policing and on-street services, Steve Burton, said the inspector was well within his rights as her card was not valid.

“In cases where a child does not have a valid Zip Oyster photocard, we have an established process which safeguards vulnerable passengers," he said.

"Our staff are trained to handle these situations appropriately with passengers’ safety being the top priority.

"In this instance, we believe our revenue officer followed the correct procedure.”

But she wasn't the only person who the inspector had his sights set on that day.

Mr Lamb himself was issued with a penalty fare for producing, what TfL deemed an invalid 'gold card'.

"All drivers had approved the travel card for two and half months and suddenly I'm fined under the guise that 'oh, the drivers don't look hard enough, it is invalid' and 'I'm just following orders'," he said.

"Pales in comparison to how the girl was treated though.

"Several passengers on the bus were fairly aggrieved at the inspector's overly bureaucratic behaviour, and felt that the public should know that these types of inspectors are present for their own peace of mind and TFL should be held accountable so that this aggressive and overly bureaucratic behaviour can be stamped out in the future."