It's common courtesy to offer a heavily pregnant woman a seat on a bus. However, expectant mum Brydie Lee-Kennedy found herself in a situation where a fellow commuter on her bus refused to move his belongings from the only free seat so she could sit down.

Brydie, who is an Australian TV writer living in London, responded in a way that has taken the internet by storm - she sat on his hand and bag.

Writing about the encounter on her Twitter, she said:

'Well it finally happened in my 8th month of pregnancy I just sat on a man's hand and bag when he wouldn't move them off the last spare seat on the bus. We're now sharing a very quiet ride.'

In a further tweet, she added: 'I wonder what it’s like to live somewhere with a less Hunger Games spirit on public transport.'

Her tweet has now had more than 17,000 likes and over 1,500 retweets. Brydie's story resonated with many, with lots of other mums coming forward to share their similar commuter battles.

Tweeter Bridget Neval replied with 'Haha when I was press I asked a man spreader if I could share his bench seat on the bus and he gestured to his wide legs and said, "No." Like, "Sorry, my balls need that space."

(image copyright @BrydieLK, Twitter)