A KEIGHLEY bus driver has been praised by his employers for completing 25 years with the firm without missing a single shift.

Dale Cooke, who works for Keighley Bus Company, has been in the job for exactly a quarter of a century as of today. (April 27)

A company spokesman said his phenomenal attendance record was an "amazing achievement".

But Mr Cooke attributed it to his passion for his work.

"It's just a job I've always enjoyed doing, I like coming into work it's as simple as that," he added.

Mr Cooke, 46, who lives in Braithwaite, started as a bus driver for the firm Yorkshire Rider group, when he was only 18-years-old. At the time he was the second youngest driver with the company.

For the last two years he has been working on the appropriately named 66 "Dalesway" route.

"I've been interested in buses for a long time because when I lived in Bradford with my grandparents we lived opposite a bus terminus," he said. "I always used to see buses coming and going.

"My parents would have preferred me to take this exam, or that exam, but I knew exactly what I wanted to do instead!"

Commenting on how the job had changed over 25 years, Mr Cooke said: "Traffic-wise it does get really busy now, but the buses themselves are better. A lot better.

"I enjoy the company of the people I work with and the passengers. I have a laugh and a joke."