Brian Heale with the offending pot of paint

Retired painter and decorator Brian Heale, 71, says he was told by a driver: "I don't think you can get on with that," when he tried to board with the water-based emulsion.

He said the driver checked and was told the pot was against regulations.

Cardiff Bus apologised for the "obvious inconvenience" and admitted flexibility needed to be shown sometimes.

Mr Heale, who is recovering from a bout of salmonella poisoning and had previously suffered a heart attack, said: "I wasn't going to argue with him [the bus driver] at my age.

He (the cafe owner) said: 'You've missed the bus' and I said: 'No, I've been thrown off it' Brian Heale

"The passengers on the bus were gobsmacked."

Mr Heale, from Leckwith, Cardiff, who also paints and decorates orphanages for charity, said he had always been "treated really well" in the past by the bus company.

He was on his way to do an errand for a friend when he found himself stranded.

He went to a nearby cafe and was given a lift by the owner rather than having to walk in the rain.

"He (the cafe owner) said: 'You've missed the bus' and I said: 'No, I've been thrown off it'," said Mr Heale.

'Volatile products'

"It's very petty."

A Cardiff Bus spokesman said safety of passengers was the "number one" priority.

He said the company took health and safety regulations "very seriously and attempts at all times to adhere to the regulations that are in place for the whole of the bus industry".

He added: "That includes all volatile products needing to be properly packaged and bagged when being brought on to one of our vehicles".

But he added: "The company does accept that in certain circumstances more flexibility needs to be displayed and we apologise to the gentleman involved for the obvious inconvenience this incident has caused."