HERE is Warrington Borough Transport's latest bus driver.

Ethan Connolly may not be able to drive yet,but he has already had a taste for getting behind the wheel thanks to the bus company.

They have named the youngster from Penketh one of their Pride of Warrington figures and as part of the honour he has had a bus named after him.

And he was given a special invitation to visit the company's depot on Tuesday to test out his new motor.

Karen Bell, Ethan's mum, said: "He didn't understand it at first. I told him that it is only special little boys that get buses named after them. When we drove in to the bus depot he was saying which bus is mine?'"

Ethan, aged three, has a disorder that creates cysts. He has one behind his eye and on his jaw which obstructs his breathing.

So far, he has had an operation in Berlin to remove some of the cysts, but will need several more in the future.

The Warrington Guardian campaign set up to raise money for the operations, Ethan's Journey, has gone from strength to strength.

"We were expecting things to die down but they just don't seem to be," added Karen.

He loves going into town, we always get people coming up to us asking how he is doing."

On board his new bus, Ethan soon got to grips with the bells, testing each one out and trying out all of the seats, including the driver's chair. He even got the chance to press the bus' horn.

Clr Les Hoyle, chairman of WBT, said: "We did not know about Ethan except through the Warrington Guardian and we just wanted his family to feel that the community is behind him.

"We wanted to pick Warrington people for the Pride of Warrington. We feel that Ethan is a little fighter and we wanted to get behind him."