Greater Manchester

Manchester bus driver wins First Short Story Competition

A Manchester bus driver has put pen to paper to win First's Short Stories Competition for 2009.

Colin Bishop, a bus driver at our Oldham depot, picked up prizes totalling £3k, including a laptop, for winning the innovative staff competition which encourages staff to write about their experiences.

Colin, aged 38, who has been a bus driver for 10 years, wrote a story titled 'Fell and Back'. The story is about a local fell running race in which Colin took part and won.

Colin is the third Manchester bus staff member to win the prize in the last three years. Last year Alison Austerberry, who works at our Queen's Road depot in the Business Development team, won the prize for her story 'Here Comes Rodney'. In 2007 Oldham driver Anthony Cook won the prize.

Colin Bishop said: "I was delighted to pick up this prize and I look forward to using my laptop to write further stories.

"There must be something in the water in Manchester because I am the third staff member to win in the last three years. Maybe Manchester is the new Stratford-Upon-Avon and we are all potential William Shakespeares in this area."