A Swindon bus driver has been praised after he gave up his break to take one fascinated little girl on a spin, free of charge.

Alice Barnes-Clark said her two-year-old daughter, who she does not wish to be named, is completely fascinated by buses.

“She has autism and is non-verbal, but she is fascinated by buses and loves watching them on her iPad.

“We were at the orbital today going to the library and she wouldn’t go in the library at all because she just wanted to look at the buses outside,” she explained.

After they had spent 10 minutes looking at the bus from the outside while the bus driver was on his break, Ms Barnes-Clark’s partner approached the driver and asked if they could have a little look around while he was parked up.

But the Swindon bus driver, who has not been identified, decided to offer something even better.

Swindon Advertiser: The little girl was fascinated by the whole experience.The little girl was fascinated by the whole experience. (Image: Alice Barnes-Clark)

“My partner asked if she could have a look around the bus and the driver said he had a few minutes left of his break so he would take us for a little drive free of charge,” said Ms Barnes-Clark.

“He could see she was just fascinated by it.

"He even asked if she wanted to sit upstairs to get a better view, which she didn’t want but it was so nice of him to ask."

The bus driver, who has been named a ‘hero’ in the Swindon Community Facebook Group, gave up the rest of his break to take the little girl and her parents on a personal ride around a nearby roundabout and back, free of charge.

“She had never been on a bus before and spent around 10 mins just looking and touching it," said the little girl's mum.

“My daughter’s non-verbal so she can’t speak at all and doesn’t usually show much emotion, but she didn’t want to get off the bus and on the car ride home she was smiling a lot." 

Locals in Swindon’s community Facebook group who saw the event unfold have claimed it was ‘heartwarming to see.’

“I saw her looking at the buses as I walked past and she was so happy,” said Molly Gardiner.

“What a wonderful gesture. Hats off to the bus driver who went that extra mile to help someone,” added Darren Jackson.

Ms Barnes-Clark does not know the name of the bus driver, but said she would like to share the following message with him.

“I’d just like to say thank you for doing this for my daughter, you really made her day.”