BUS company Arriva North East is launching a search for a talented young writer.

The company is urging children aged 16 and under to get their thinking caps on and come up with a bus themed short story.

John Fozzard, marketing manager for Arriva North East, said: “A lot of children start using the bus for the first time when they go to secondary school. We really want to encourage them to use their journey time for reading as people tell us they really value the time they get with their books on the bus.

“That’s why we’d like children to come up with a short story about a memorable bus journey. The winning entry will then be given to other young people who catch the bus. The story could be about the first time they went on a bus, a special trip, or completely made up - it’s up to them.”

As well as having their story shared with other young bus users and published on the Arriva website, the winner will also get a laptop and free bus tickets. Three runners up will also get free Arriva bus tickets.

The deadline for entries is September 19 and the story must be bus themed and between 500 and 1,000 words long. Anyone who wants to enter should email their short story and contact details to shortstory@arriva.co.uk or post them to Arriva Short Story Competition, HTPR, 1 Wrens Court, 53 Lower Queen Street, Sutton Coldfield, B72 1RT.