AN elderly couple who were taking an autumn break in Cornwall have been full of praise for a bus driver who 'went the extra mile' to help them out when they faced being stranded in Liskeard.

Geoff and Kathy Brock, from Sunbury on Thames, both in their 80s, have described Western Greyhound driver Clifford Gillard as a 'Good Samaritan', after he took them back to Newquay in his own car, rather than see them left in Liskeard where his service 593 finishes at the end of the day.

Geoff and Kathy had been on a day trip to Polperro with their cousin and his wife. While in the village, their cousin suffered a heart attack and was taken to Derriford Hospital.

Kathy said they visited their relative, who subsequently died from another heart attack after returning home, at the hospital a couple of days later using the direct bus service from Newquay to Plymouth.

'When it came to returning, by a mere stroke of luck, we managed to catch the last bus from the Plymouth station but it went only as far as Liskeard,' said Kathy.

'We intended to change buses along the route but the bus driver told us that would not be possible as by the time we got to Liskeard all the buses would have finished. But this is where our faith in human nature was restored. When we got to Liskeard, the driver phoned his wife (in Padstow) and told her he would be late home, put us in his car, and then drove us to our hotel in Newquay.

'He was so kind, such a wonderful human being.'

Mark Howarth, managing director of Western Greyhound, said: 'I am delighted that our driver, Clifford Gillard, went so much out of his way at his own expense to help Mr and Mrs Brock. We get many compliments about the kindness of our staff but it is especially pleasing when an occurrence such as this is reported.'