A bus driver who used his bus as a weapon to plough into a cyclist he had just argued with sobbed as he was jailed for 17 months.

We reported last month how Gavin Hill, from Frome, Somerset, got into a heated exchange with keen cyclist Phillip Mead after cutting in front of him in central Bristol.

CCTV images of the incident show a shocking sequence of events that followed the argument. At around 8.30am on April 5 last year, there was an altercation which saw the cyclist park his bike against the front of the bus, and tug at one of its windscreen wipers.

The CCTV pictures show the two then carrying on, but Hill suddenly swings his bus out to draw level with Mr Mead and then lurches sharply to the left, sending the cyclist crashing to the ground.

Horrified onlookers gather round to help the 43-year-old, who suffered fractures to his wrist and leg, which needed to be plated, and to his thumb.

Hill, 29, of Slipps Close, Frome, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and causing grievous bodily harm.

At Bristol Crown Court yesterday Judge Mark Horton told him: “This was not an accident, it was an assault, deliberate dangerous driving. You used that vehicle as a weapon to bully and intimidate the cyclist who, in the end, was struck by that bus.”

Hill was disqualified from driving for two-and-a-half years and ordered to pass an extended driving test.

He tearfully mouthed “I love you” to his sobbing family in the public gallery as he was taken down.

Richard Posner, prosecuting, said in April last year there was an incident on the St James Barton roundabout.

Mr Posner said: “Mr Mead stopped his bike in front of the bus, he leant the bike on the front and he remonstrated with the driver about his driving.”

The court heard after words were exchanged, bus and cyclist moved off with father-of-two Mr Mead cycling slowly in front of it, before the driver swerved into him.

Timothy Rose, defending, said: “This was a moment of madness, a moment of snapping, but it has had dramatic consequences for the victim.”