THE DRIVER of a bus which mounted the pavement and hit a pedestrian in the town centre will appear in court next week.

Cheikh Daouda Senghor, 40, from St Johns Road, Wallingford, has been reported for summons for dangerous driving.

Simon Smith miraculously managed to get up and walk into the Purple Turtle bar after being struck by the bus on Gun Street in June.

Mr Senghor is due to appear at Reading Magistrates' Court on 14 December.

The Purple 17 bus was heavily damaged in the crash and CCTV footage of the incident went viral.

The road was closed for two hours while paramedics attended and Mr Smith escaped with scratches and bruising.

A spokesman for Reading Buses said: "We are aware that CCTV has been released of the incident that occurred on Gun Street in Reading Town Centre. 

“We are obviously shocked by the incident as well as the very graphic footage that has been shared a number of times.

"Thankfully, the pedestrian does not have any major injuries and there were no major injuries to passengers on the bus.

"The incident is the subject of an ongoing internal investigation as well as an investigation by the police with whom we are working and sharing footage from our onboard CCTV. So it would be inappropriate for us to comment or speculate on this until it has run its course.

"We can assure the public that all our drivers are incredibly professional and trained to the highest standard. Our buses receive regular checks by our award-winning engineering department."