TWO stars of the town's bus company have been praised for going above and beyond.

Steve Hamblin and Martin Gibbs were honoured with the Star of the Month prize by Reading Buses.

Engineer Steve, 41, is based at the Great Knollys Street depot and won the accolade for his attitude to work and for making outstanding progress in just seven months with the business.

Steve, of Old Burghclere, was nominated by his colleagues who said that he was ‘always willing to do any job given, whether big or small.’

Caroline Anscombe, HR director, said: "Steve had not been with the company long, in fact only seven months, but had already made a big impression with his manager saying that it felt like ‘he has been here for years, and is already a great asset to the engineering team.’

Reading Chronicle:

“Steve has done brilliantly in the short time that he has been with the company. He is well liked by both his managers and fellow engineering crew. He has impressed everyone with how quickly he has got into the ‘Reading Buses spirit’ of things.”

Martin, 35, from Wokingham, has been with Reading Buses for nearly nine years and divides his time between working in the Control Room and helping to look after buses and drivers in the town centre.

He was nominated for always being there for the driving staff when they needed guidance or support and always giving some ideas to help resolve any issues.

Caroline added: “Martin has a brilliant can-do attitude and is a fantastically helpful team member “This nomination was backed up by Martin’s manager who said that his helpfulness and enthusiasm really does know no bounds.

“He is always willing to support and put in that extra bit of work to ensure that the job gets done to a high standard.”