An adorable toddler who is obsessed with BUSES was treated to an exclusive VIP tour of a depot centre — on his birthday.
Callum Maybe, two, got the chance to get behind the wheel of a double-decker bus, even sounding the horn, in a dream trip arranged by his mother.
The cute youngster can’t get enough of the public mode of transport and one of his first words was actually “bus”, according to his parents.
His love for them has grown since and he even demands they ride the bus whenever the family go shopping in Yate, South Glos.
His loving mother, Natalie, 28, contacted First Bus weeks before her son’s birthday to ask if Callum could visit the depot to get a behind the scenes look.
The hospitality worker says she never expected an answer and was stunned when bosses turned around and agreed.
The youngster was given the full VIP treatment, alongside his mum and dad Alex Ayshford, during a guided tour of First West England’s Bristol depot in Lawrence Hill on February 16.
Little Callum was given a high-visibility jacket and lanyard to wear and was lucky enough to see young recruits being put through their paces doing reversing exercises.
He even went home with a miniature Corgi Greyhound bus, which his mother says he can add to his collection of toy buses.
She said: “Bus was one of Callum’s first words and his love for them has grown from there.
“He always gets excited when he sees them whizzing by, and without fail, he’ll shout and point them out to me.
“We travel into Yate regularly and I often get the bus because it’s an absolute treat for him.
“It was amazing to see his face light up when we were given the tour of the depot, especially when he got the chance to sit behind the wheel.
“I think it was a couple of weeks before his birthday, I was talking to people at work and thought I would just email First Bus but didn’t expect them to answer.”
Bus driver Kevin Purcell, who was behind the decision to make Callum’s dream come true, said that it was great to watch the toddler go behind the scenes.
He said: “As you can imagine, it’s quite rare for someone to be so enthusiastic about buses at such a young age.
“Who knows, maybe in years to come he’ll be back working in one of the various roles we have available here.”
