A WOMAN with a guide dog says she was verbally abused and swore at by a passenger who told her to get the dog "off the bus".

Megan Taylor, who lives in Sutton, was aged 15 in 2011 when she fainted at a Remembrance Sunday service in Surbiton, London, hitting her head on the kerb and fracturing her skull in multiple places.

This caused her to develop a complex neurological disorder that means she can suddenly lose her sight momentarily and faint without warning.

She has two dual purpose guide and assistance dogs which help her in everyday life, Ruby and Rowley, with Rowley taking over after Ruby was retired to pet status.

Megan was on the bus back from St Helens town centre with Rowley when a woman approached her on the bus saying: "Why is there a f****** dog on the bus, get it off".

Megan, 22, said: "It was the first time I had been into town by myself since moving to St Helens in September, I explained that dogs are actually allowed on the bus, even pet dogs, and that Rowley is a working guide dog.

"But she proceeded to call me a liar because 'Guide Dogs are yellow labradors and your dog is black'.

"I explained that guide and assistance dogs can been any colour and don't have to be labradors; my previous assistance dog was a Border Collie cross.

"But she told me I was wrong and she was right.

"I decided there was nothing I could say to educate this woman, and chose to ignore her while she continued to talk nonsense.

"Having had so many bad encounters on public transport in the past I was already feeling nervous about the journey, and felt my anxiety levels rising during the incident.

"But thanks to the confidence Rowley has given me I was able to stay calm. Having an Assistance Dog has not only improved my physical health, but my mental health also."