A Christian bus driver has refused to use a vehicle with the atheist slogan: "There's probably no God".

Ron Heather, from Southampton, responded with "shock horror" at the message and walked out of his shift in protest. Buses across Britain started displaying atheist messages in an advertising campaign launched earlier this month.

Mr Heather said: "I was just about to board and there it was staring me in the face, my first reaction was shock horror. I felt that I could not drive that bus, I told my managers and they said they haven't got another one and I thought I better go home, so I did. I think it was the starkness of this advert which implied there was no God."

He has since agreed to go back to work with the promise he would only have to drive the buses if there were no others available. First Bus said in a statement: "As a company we understand Mr Heather's views regarding the atheist bus advert and we are doing what we can to accommodate his request not to drive the buses concerned."

The advertising campaign is backed by the British Humanist Association and prominent atheist, Professor Richard Dawkins.

The Lord is a man of war (Exodus 15:3)

God is love (1 John 4:8)

Make your bleeding mind up! (cleverthingies 1:7)

At least the Lewisham bus didn't have the atheist advert on it.

The original was here