A BUS driver has been commended for his quick thinking for evacuating passengers after the bus’s engine caught fire.

Yellow Bus driver Kevin Beech led the eight passengers from the double decker 1c at Lansdowne when he was alerted to smoke, yesterday morning.

“A person said there was smoke coming from the back from under the seat,” he said. “I pulled over and asked everyone to get off the bus. I went upstairs and there was a school girl with her headphones in and I asked her to get off too. She must not have heard.

“And then I called the fire brigade. Lots of people were trying to help but I told them not to do anything and the fire brigade would do it.”

Yellow Buses’ Jenni Wilkinson said: “He was so calm and professional under pressure. The incident was over very quickly and we’ve got nothing but praise for Kevin.”