A shocked mother has told how she was punched in the face as she tried to protect her daughter on a bus.

Denise Hasemore, from Minster, was on the way back from a shopping trip to Maidstone with her three children when she was assaulted.

Kent Police are investigating and reviewing CCTV footage from Arriva's 334 service.

The incident started when a man, who the 32-year-old says appeared to be drunk, got on the single-decker and asked her 12-year-old daughter to move as he wanted to sit down - even though there were plenty of other spare seats.

Miss Hasemore was sitting in front with her youngest son in a pram.

"He said to me if I was a geezer he would smack me and as he said it, he punched me straight in the face..." - Denise Hasemore

Her daughter said no, but he grabbed her shopping bags - and in the process her leg - and pulled them out the way.

"He yanked her bags and they all went all over the floor," she said. "She was shocked."

The housewife said she shouted at the man, her daughter came and sat with her and then nothing else was said until he got up to get off at Sonora Way, Sittingbourne.

Miss Hasemore said: "Being an immature 12-year-old, she had a bit of drink in her bottle and she flicked a little bit at the man.

"That's a little girl's reaction. So I stood up to protect my kids and he said to me if I was a geezer he would smack me and as he said it, he punched me straight in the face.

"He knocked me over and I went flying back over the other seats.

"If it wasn't for the driver jumping out the cab and the other man that pulled him off he would have done more damage."

The man left the bus and ran into an alleyway.

Miss Hasemore said she was left with a swollen face and a black eye and went for X-rays at Sheppey Community Hospital.

"I'm scared of going out and I can't go on a bus," she said. "It's affected my daughter – she's still shaken up and won't ever forget it."

The assault happened between 4.15pm and 5pm on Wednesday, May 29.

No arrests have been made.