Bus driver praised for driving young couple home in St Helens

After missing their last train last weekend, Summer Owens and her partner Ciah O'Neill were left stranded as they had no way of getting home apart from walking the two miles back to Sutton.

With bus driver Steven Edwards about to drop the pair off at St Helens bus station at around 12.15am, the 55-year-old offered to take them a little closer to home while he drove back to the bus depot on Jackson Street.

However, conscious that this would still leave the couple with a fair distance to walk late at night, Steven decided to do the honourable thing and drive the pair back home in his car after parking up at the depot.

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Ciah and Summer were stranded when they missed their last train home (Image: Summer Owens) While he may not have driven people directly to their front door before, Steven said he has often taken passengers past their stop so they can get a little closer to home.

This is mainly because, as a dad-of-four, Steven wants to be safe in the knowledge that his passengers get home safely at night, and he hopes other parents would do the same for his kids if they were in a similar position.

So while this wasn't anything too out-of-the-ordinary for Steven, he has been blown away by the response to a social media post that Summer wrote to thank him for his actions, which has attracted hundreds of comments and responses.

Steven drove the couple home after he parked up at the bus depot on Jackson Street (Image: Google Maps) Steven, who has worked as an Arriva driver in St Helens for the past four years, said: "I'm shocked by all the response to be honest, because I've done similar things before and I just wanted them to get home safe.

"I asked them to ask their parents if they were okay with it, and after I checked with my manager, I took them all the way home because I didn't want them to be walking that far late at night.

"They were offering me some money but I couldn't take that. I have four kids myself and it would have played on my mind all night if I didn't do that."

Steven said he has been 'humbled' by the response (Image: Steven Edwards) With Summer's mum and many of Steven's passengers and colleagues commenting on the post to thank him and highlight the good work he does, the dad-of-four admitted the response has been a lovely experience.

Steven, who was also named Arriva's 'Driver of the Week' this week, added: "It's been really nice to see all the comments from my passengers and colleagues. I didn't do this for this praise so it's been quite lovely to see".

"Like a lot of people, I go to work to pay the bills, but I always try to put a smile on my face and have a laugh with people and bring people's spirits up if I can."