Police are crediting a Metro Vancouver bus driver with getting two preteens home safe to their worried parents after the girls snuck out of a sleepover in their pyjamas.

Ed Boleak was driving a Burnaby route shortly before midnight on Monday when the two girls, aged 10 and 12, boarded his bus, according to Metro Vancouver Transit Police.

They were holding a hand-drawn map labelled "Plan," which traced their steps to the bus stop and then to Production Way Skytrain Station, apparently to "eat!" The final stop was marked as "London."

According to Sgt. Clint Hampton, the girls' ultimate destination was not England, but London Drugs.

"I don't actually know what they were going to do at London Drugs. I was quite curious myself," he said.

He said the girls had been missing for a few hours when they got on the bus — their parents had already called Burnaby RCMP, filed a missing persons report, and were out searching the neighbourhood on foot.

"It's a lighthearted story, because this is two young girls, they're out on an adventure, but there is the flip side of that and that is the risk of two young girls being out alone on the transit system late at night," Hampton said.

After Boleak spotted the girls, he called police and two constables arrived to return the children to their relieved parents — after conducting a safety check.

The bus driver later told police, "I'm glad to hear that it's all good, but this is something we all would have done."

Hampton said the incident should serve as a reminder to parents to educate their kids about transit safety.

He added that members of the public shouldn't hesitate to call police if they notice something unusual on transit.

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