WITNESSES have described the shock moment a man was left seriously injured after being ‘struck’ by a bus in Port Glasgow town centre.

The 36-year-old had stepped off the single-decker in Scarlow Street just seconds before the incident.

Driver Stephen McPhail, 46, is standing trial at Greenock Sheriff Court accused of driving without due care or attention and colliding with the pedestrian.

He is charged with failing to see the man on the road as he pulled away from a bus stop.

One passenger told depute fiscal Lindy Scaife that he had shouted ‘woah!’ to alert the McGill’s driver as he edged out onto the main road.

He said: “He was checking his wing mirror on the right hand side.

“I felt the bus move and saw the man walk diagonally in front of the bus.

“I tried to shout to let the driver know — I shouted ‘woah!’ three times.

“The bus hit him and I heard a ‘thud’.

“The driver stopped the bus immediately and got off to see what had happened.

“He then told everyone to get off.

“He looked shocked.” The witness told Barney Ross QC that the passenger had appeared ‘intoxicated’ when he first got onto the number 532 Devol to Greenock service in Dubbs Road.

When asked if he looked ‘out of it’ he replied ‘yes’, and added: “He staggered off the bus.” Another witness, also a passenger, said she saw the driver check all his mirrors as he left the bus stop because she could see his face in the large front rear-view mirror.

The pensioner also heard a ‘thud’, adding that the driver got off the vehicle before getting back on and reversing and telling passengers to call an ambulance. She added that she heard a man on the pavement say ‘Oh my God’.

The incident is alleged to have happened on 14 June last year and the charge states that the man was left severely injured and permanently disfigured.

It also states that the injured man had ‘fallen on the roadway’ before being struck. McPhail denies the charge against him and the trial is to continue in June.