A bus driver has been fired after he was caught on camera refusing to pick up a passenger because he was black.

Kevin Brooks was waiting for a bus on Martha's Vineyard island in Massachusetts on Wednesday when it drove straight past him.

The barber needed to be on a 5.20pm ferry from Oak Bluffs back to the mainland so he called an Uber and arrived just after the bus.

A bus driver has been fired after he was caught on camera refusing to pick up passenger Kevin Brooks, 35, because he was black

He confronted the driver about why he drove past him ans was told the bus was full. When Mr Brooks questioned this, the driver said: 'Well, it's because you are black'.

The 35-year-old said usually the route 13 bus would display a sign saying it was full if it was at capacity, but on this occasion it did not.

The Vineyard Transit Authority said it reviewed the bus' video and audio logs and confirmed Mr Brook's version of events.

The company said it had a 'zero tolerance policy for this type of behavior' and immediately fired the driver and apologized.

Mr Brooks said the incident shocked him as he had not encountered much racism since moving to the area.

'I am from the South. If I feel racism I deal with it. For the first time in my life I had to swallow it,' he told the Martha's Vineyard Times.

Mr Brooks was waiting for a route 13 bus (pictured) on Martha's Vineyard island in Massachusetts on Wednesday when it drove straight past him

He confronted the driver about why he drove past him ans was told the bus was full. When Mr Brooks questioned this, the driver said: 'Well, it's because you are black'

'I've never felt more disrespected or belittled in my life. I had trouble sleeping that night.'

Mr Brooks said he wasn't out to get the bus driver and take away his livelihood, but wanted to stand up for himself and get the incident 'out there'.

'Maybe he was having a bad day and the wrong thing came out of his mouth. I'm not about any drama at all. I just want to provide for my family. I'm not here for a political debate,' he said.

Mr Brooks also asked the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and a civil rights lawyer to look into the matter.