Shropshire Arriva bus driver praised

Shropshire Arriva bus driver praised for travelling miles out of his way to help a stranded schoolboy

• Eleven-year-old Codey got on the wrong bus as he headed home to Telford
• He didn't realise until he was almost in Bridgnorth, but his phone battery was dying
• On realising Codey's plight, the Arriva bus driver took him back to Telford even though he wasn't due to return

A Telford Arriva bus driver has been praised for driving 10 miles out of his way to help a schoolboy get home.

Domingos Correia, who’s worked for Arriva for six years, noticed 11-year-old Codey from Dawley was almost in Bridgnorth on November 7.

He had made a mistake by getting on the wrong bus from Telford bus station and was at the wrong end of the journey.

He saw the boy was starting to become very anxious and he said he did not have enough phone battery to call his mum.

Domingos, who’s originally from Portugal, said he was not scheduled to do a return trip to Telford, but took the schoolboy back so he could be picked up.

Codey’s mum Jodie went on Facebook the following day and called the bus driver a “lovely gentleman.”

The pair will appear on BBC Radio Shropshire on Thursday, November 16, so she can thank him on the breakfast show.

Domingos said: “Lots of youngsters make the mistake and get on the wrong bus without looking – I’m sure I did that myself as a kid – but there’s no way I’d leave a youngster by themselves when they’re lost.

“I was only doing my job, but it’s nice that the lady wants to thank me – that’s very kind.”

Andy Damon, Telford operations manager, said: “It’s lovely to hear stories like this about Arriva people and we’re really proud of what Domingos did that day.

“He’s a great asset to Arriva, because he lives our values about doing the right thing, caring passionately about what we do and making a difference.”