Woman hijacks New York bus after being told to stop smoking

A New York City bus moves by in Times Square November 26, 2008 in New York City. (Getty Images)

A woman has been arrested in New York after hijacking a bus when she was told to stop smoking and taking it on a joy ride through the city.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) said the driver asked her to put out the cigarette as the M-101 bus as it travelled through Harlem on Tuesday morning.

But the passenger, identified by local media as Charita Headley, 34, started shouting and refused to get off the bus, forcing the driver to pull over and wait for a replacement.

As the driver moved unloaded passengers to a new bus, the woman jumped into the driver’s seat and sped off, CBS2 reported.

The joy ride started at 7am and continued for three blocks, the bus pulled into a stop seemingly to pick up passengers and was cut off by its replacement.

Footage taken by bystanders showed at least three police cars arriving at the scene and ensuring it could not be driven away before officers boarded.

Headley, a former MTA bus driver who was sacked in July last year, has been charged with unauthorised use of a vehicle, the New York Post reported.