COUNTY council transport bosses say there will be no U-turn over their decision to ban a devil logo from a popular Ashford bus service.

Kent County Council told the company that runs the 666 service between Faversham and Ashford to remove the well-known devil sign after a member of the public complained it was offensive.

The decision has been widely criticised and KCC, which subsidises the service, has been accused of acting in a politically-correct manner. Meanwhile, passengers have started a petition calling for the sign to be re-instated.

But Cllr Keith Ferrin (Con), KCC’s cabinet member for transport, said he did not intend to reverse his decision.

“Why should we upset or offend people if we do not have to? It is easy to dismiss this as trivial but suppose this was a Muslim or Jewish symbol that offended those faiths? I wonder if people would feel the same way about it.

"This is not about freedom of speech or being politically correct. It is simply about giving offence where there is no reason to do so. The issue is not whether I am offended. As it happens, I am not but other people are,” he said.

The bus operator Kingsman International has now covered up the Devil logo, replacing it with a less contentious crown.

Mr Ferrin said he was unconcerned by the controversy his decision had stirred up. “I have got a lot of other problems to deal with...I could do without the Devil bus but it is a good story.”