FAT bus drivers have been banned from getting behind the wheel and face the sack unless they lose weight.
Overweight Stagecoach employees have been taken off the buses and told to shed the pounds within an 'agreed timescale' or risk losing their driving job permanently.
The Chronicle understands at least eight staff members have been given different duties following a health and safety assessment.
Two were immediately stopped from driving all buses while a further six have been told they can only drive larger buses such as double deckers.
The new measures have caused uproar among drivers who claim weight has never been a problem before.
"It's discrimination, simple as that," said one driver who asked not to be named.
A Stagecoach spokesman said there were maximum safe working loads for both the driver seat and the overall loaded weight of the vehicle.
