A Richmond bus depot has been given the all-clear after a bus driver was diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease.

Bus operator Abellio was told its Twickenham depot, in Stanley Road, had no traces of the bacteria, which causes the serious form of pneumonia, following a Health Protection Agency (HPA) check to investigate the source of the bug.

An Abellio spokesman said: "This is an isolated incident. The driver is receiving treatment in hospital, and the local health authority is checking his last known movements in order to identify the source of the infection.

“A health check has been carried out at the depot, which has now been given the all clear.”

Earlier this week Kingston Hospital admitted a man with suspected Legionnaires and as soon as it was confirmed as a community-acquired strain of the disease the HPA launched an investigation.

Caused by Legionella pneumophila bacteria, the illness is caught by breathing in small droplets of water suspended in the air which contain the bug. Symptoms can include high temperature, fever and chills, coughing, muscle pain and headaches. In severe cases it can be fatal.

Dr Fiona Neely, consultant in communicable disease control at the South West London Health Protection Unit, assured people the disease could not be spread from person to person but confirmed the unit was investigating this isolated case.

She said: “We are working with the health and safety executive and environmental health to try to identify where this person acquired their infection.

“To do this, we investigate all the places they have been within the last two weeks before they became ill – this will involve their home; workplace and anywhere else they have visited.

"Because legionella bacteria are commonly found in the environment, however, it is possible that we will not find a cause for this person’s infection."