A bus driver who helped a girl who was late for her first day at school after she stood on the wrong side of the road and missed her bus has been hailed a hero.

The number 16 First West Yorkshire Bus in Leeds was halted by the driver on Tuesday morning to call and pay for a taxi for the girl who looked "clearly upset".

Lynsey Jayes, 33 one of the passengers on the bus, shared a post on Facebook about the driver's generous actions which has received thousands of likes.

Speaking to the Press Association, Ms Jayes, who had been taking her children to school, said: "I heard the driver saying 'are you ok there?'

"Then he got out the cab so we all began to get a bit curious to what was going on.

"Outside there was a young girl clearly upset, she looked to be about 11/12 years old perhaps.

"He spoke to her outside for a few minutes, then as he walked back on the bus he was saying to her 'don't worry, we will get you to school on time'."

The mother-of-five added that the driver then asked the passengers for a taxi number and arranged with the firm for the schoolgirl to be picked up from a nearby Tesco store.

He then walked her to the shop and gave her enough money to cover the fare, before returning back to the bus and apologising to the passengers for the delay.

She added: "When he came back he joked that we should keep quiet so people don't think he's gone soft."

A spokesman from First West Yorkshire said: "We are delighted with the actions of our driver, who has shown exceptional customer awareness and consideration for this young girl, who was clearly very upset.

"First West Yorkshire is grateful to Lynsey Jayes for highlighting our driver's actions and to the many customers and other members of the public for their kind comments.

"Customer care is an essential part of our drivers' continuous development and our colleague has shown himself to be a great ambassador for this."

Hundreds of comments have been left on Ms Jayes's post by people praising the driver.

PA Media