A BUS driver who challenged vandals cutting the seats on the top deck of his bus has been named as Reading Buses star of the month.

Stephen Saunders, 47, who lives in Calcot, has been working for the company for five-and-a-half years and has been recognised for going above and beyond the call of duty.

Stephen was nominated by a customer for professionally handling a difficult situation. He was described as being very calm and called the police who dealt with the situation whilst customers were transferred to another bus.

HR Director Caroline Anscombe said: "We are lucky that we don’t have a huge issue with vandalism at Reading Buses. But when it does occur it obviously costs us money to resolve and keeps buses off the road.

"So it is really good to hear about Stephen’s actions, although we are glad that he dealt with the vandals calmly and didn’t put himself in harms way. He demonstrated our values of ‘doing the right thing’ and ‘staying safe and healthy.’ Well done Stephen."

As part of his prize, Stephen will be put forward for the company's Star of the Year awards in January.