A DRIVER has been commended by his employer for "immediately evacuating" a smoking bus.

West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service was called at 8am on Monday morning to reports of a large vehicle on fire on Festival Avenue, in Shipley.

A spokesperson for WYFRS said: "Two crews attended (Bradford and Shipley) but found the bus was not on fire, the cause of the fire alarm sounding was an overheated engine."

The bus was the 656 service, which is run by TLC.

A spokesperson for the Bradford-based transport firm said the vehicle "developed a fault whilst in service causing smoke to be emitted from the rear".

They added: "Passengers were immediately evacuated from the vehicle and the on-board fire extinguisher was used to prevent escalation.

"Emergency services attended the scene along with our technicians to immobilise the vehicle as a safety precaution.

"The vehicle was recovered to our facilities for repair.

"The driver and passengers were unharmed. 

"Our driver responded quickly and calmly to ensure the safety of our passengers and took steps to ensure the situation remained under control whilst waiting for assistance.

"We commend the professionalism demonstrated by our driver and are proud to have him as part of the tlc team."