Devon & Cornwall

Meet Casper, the commuting cat who's fast becoming a celebrity on First buses in Plymouth

Regular users of First's number 3 service may recognise the fluffy feline, who has been driving his owner up the wall with his constant trips to the city centre.

The adventurous cat politely queues behind other passengers at the bus stop outside his Barne Barton home, then quietly trots on board and curls up on a seat for the ride.

But far from causing mischief he has proved a hit with drivers and customers alike, who always make sure he returns home safely.

Casper's journey takes him from just outside his house in Poole Park Road to the final stop at Royal Parade and back, via St Budeaux Square, HMS Drake, Keyham, Devonport and Stonehouse.

His owner Susan Finden has only just found out about his antics " but First Group have been bussing Casper around for months.

Now the company is even hatching plans to decorate the side of a Ugobus with a giant photograph of Casper, such is his popularity on the route.
Susan, who picked him out of a rescue home in 2002, said he had always been a free spirit; she named him Casper after the cartoon ghost when he immediately started giving her and husband Christopher the runaround with regular 'disappearing acts'.

The 55-year-old care worker said: "He'd always go off and have a wander. Once I had to walk a mile and a half with a cat basket to bring him back from a car park.

"He does love people, and I don't know what the attraction is but he loves big vehicles like lorries and buses.
"We think he must have come from a travellers' site or a haulage yard because he's not scared of loud vehicles at all " or dogs.

"We think he's about 12 years old but he has no road sense whatsoever; he just runs out across the road to the bus stop."

Susan found out about Casper's regular 11-mile round trips when he followed her to the bus stop one morning, avoiding passing vehicles by a whisker.
"The driver told me he gets on all the time," she said. "I couldn't believe it.

"He queues up in line with people and just sits patiently in the queue good as gold " it'll be 'Person, person, person, cat, person, person.'
"He seems to be picking First buses rather than the Citybus ones, but we don't know why.

"When the drivers do their turnaround they'll all check the bus and if he's on there they make sure he stays on for the return trip. Then local people will take him off when he gets to the right stop.

"I'm really appreciative to all the drivers for making sure he gets home safely; I'd hate to lose him."
First's Karen Baxter said the firm had put a notice up in the drivers' rest room asking them to look after the rogue passenger if they spotted him sneaking on.

One female driver even has a photo of Casper on the desktop of her computer.
Ms Baxter said the company had no plans to charge him for his trips.
"In cat years he's an OAP so he'd get a free bus pass anyway," she said, "and I'm not sure we'd feel comfortable selling a cat a Rover ticket."

Driver Rob Stonehouse added: "He usually just curls up at the back of the bus. Sometimes he nips between people's legs but he never causes any trouble."

Casper would not tell us the reason for his trips.