A community bus driver and assistant are touted for honours after almost 30 years of unpaid service.
Two friends who have worked unpaid for community bus groups for almost 30 years have been nominated for OBEs by one of their passengers.
Driver Rod Pink, 83, and assistant Denise Blain, 74, operate a shopping bus in the Waterside area of Hampshire.Their employer Community First said they were "superstars who never miss a trip". Mr Pink, the Hampshire charity's oldest driver, started as a bus volunteer in 1994 after taking early retirement.
He became a driving trainer and examiner, working unpaid for up to 35 hours a week, before taking his current role and also organising medical shipments to Ukraine.Image caption,Ms Blain, who became a volunteer driver in 1995, now assists passengers with everything from heavy shopping to oxygen cylinders.
She joked that her friend was "quite good at reversing" but sometimes annoyed her by staring at his watch when they were running late."If there's ever any problem they'll ring up later in the day to see if there's anything you need. Once you're on their bus, you're theirs and they take care of you."Nik Mussell, from Community First New Forest, said: "They are a pair. They work well together. That's why the bus works so well.
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