Passengers on board a bus this evening were shocked when a man attacked the driver after he refused to pay for his ticket, according to witnesses. 

The incident happened around 6.15pm on board a bus in Rue D'Argens, Gzira, close to the old stadium. 

The bus driver and the passenger got into an altercation after he refused to pay his fare before the aggressor at one point was seen trying to strangle the driver. 

Passengers were forced to get out from the emergency exit as a man on board a motorcycle as well as another bus driver intervened to try to calm down the aggressor, a Maltese national.

"But then he tried to attack the driver once again," Jurgen Camilleri, a witness, told timesofmalta.com.

The police arrived on the scene shortly afterwards.

The bus driver sustained injuries to his nose.