Anders Hanson

Until the other night I’d never considered that a bus could be somehow sexy. But clearly there is a Stagecoach driver in Sheffield who thinks otherwise.

I boarded the bus at about 11pm and after racing in to town, (I’m convinced he was doing well over the speed limit), he then slowed down to a crawl as he reached West Street. For those who don’t know Sheffield, West Street is the main road for bars and restaurants a bit like Birmingham’s Broad Street or Manchester’s Deansgate. I was wondering why until I realised he was cruising women who were walking along the street. When he saw some that he liked he would slow down even more, pause at the next junction until they caught him up, open the doors of the bus, stare at them, toot his horn and wave. He didn’t seem to attract much interest though, so either his vehicle of choice just isn’t sexy enough or the passengers, who by this time were also staring out at these women, were cramping his style.

Unusual bus journeys are starting to become a habit, as this follows on from my journey home from work the other week, when an out of service First bus decided to stop to pick up passengers, not charge any of them for the ride and then dump them all on the edge of the city centre rather than take them in to the centre of town.

I am astonished to see on the news about the police shooting two robbers at the HSBC in Chandler’s Ford in Hampshire.  During my two years living in Eastleigh, I lived at Bampton Court which overlooks Central Precinct where the shooting happened.  I could see the HSBC from my flat window and it was where I often took money out.  It just goes to show how even the most unlikely event can happen in what is a very quiet suburban shopping parade.

BBC NEWS: Two men killed during ‘bank raid’

SOUTHERN DAILY ECHO: Two robbers shot dead in armed raid