AN ARRIVA driver who suffered a heart attack at the wheel of a bus in Wallasey was saved by two colleagues who came to his aid.

Geoff Shakespeare, 57, was driving a bus along Poulton Road on Friday, March 16 when he had to pull over after suffering from severe chest pains.

After calling for an ambulance, standby driver Chris Jones and assistant operations manager James Rowlands arrived on scene to find Geoff cold and struggling to breathe.

First aider Chris assessed Geoff and then went to find a defibrillator from a local medical centre while James stayed with Geoff waiting for an ambulance.

Chris said: "It was clear Geoff’s condition was rapidly worsening, he was complaining of tingling in his arms and hands which were both cold and blue.

"I knew that these were two clear signs of poor circulation, and that something had to be done fast, so I managed to hunt down a defibrillator from a nearby medical centre.”

When paramedics arrived they conformed Geoff had an irregular heartbeat and had suffered a suspected heart attack.

He was then taken to Broadgreen Hospital where he underwent surgery to remove a blood clot and is now recovering well in hospital.

Arriva's head of marketing Lisa Pearson said: “We are incredibly proud of the exceptional way that James and Chris acted in this life and death situation.

"They both went above and beyond for their colleague and we can’t thank them enough.

"In honour of their actions we will be rewarded with the Employee of the Month title, which is just a small way for us to show how much we appreciate what they did for Geoff.

"We would like to extend our most sincere and get well wishes to Geoff and his family, and we wish him a very speedy recovery.”