A hero bus driver has been praised for going above and beyond the call of duty to help out a desperate mum twice in one day.

Jenny Blackburn lost her purse on a B15 bus on Tuesday on the way to Welling library to apply for jobs, and found herself stranded and unable to collect her toddler from nursery.

Bus driver, Gary, let her on for free to pick up her two-year-old son Dexter but Miss Blackburn, 36, feared that her purse had gone forever.

Later that evening she got a call from Dartford Bus Garage to say that her purse had been found and the driver had offered to drop it at her house – when he arrived she realised it was Gary.

Miss Blackburn, who lives in Ashmore Grove, said: “He was bowled over, he said ‘you got on the bus earlier to pick your son up’.

“He had done two nice things in one day, for all he knew he had helped two separate women. That was really above and beyond the call of duty.”

She added in a Facebook post: “It can be a frazzled world out there, and in a moment of stress I was so grateful for Gary's kind actions.”

Miss Blackburn said: “I couldn’t find out the number to call so I posted it on Facebook. It was really nice, lots of people got back to me with comments, which is really comforting when you’re feeling stressed.

“I called lost property but classically it closed at four, everything was going wrong. Dartford bus garage said they rang round all the bus drivers and checked and they didn’t have it.

“Then I realised ‘I have to pick my son up from nursery and I don’t have any money’.

“Later the bus garage rang and said ‘look don’t get your hopes up but we’ve found a purse. I was planning how to get there and they said the driver would drop it round.”

Miss Blackburn took to social media to share the good news story.

She wrote on Facebook: “I got off the bus and went to buy an Oyster top up, but suddenly I couldn't find my purse. I frantically emptied my bag and searched the pavements.

“I realised I must have left it on the bus. The lost property number was closed for the day by the time I got through.

“Eventually I got through to Dartford bus garage and they said that it had not been found. I was so upset, also I had no way of getting to my child's nursery in time as it was a 30 min walk from where I was and I had to be there in 10 minutes.

“I flagged down another number B15 and explained what had happened. The driver was so kind and let me on. I was so grateful for that kindness, it would have been just as easy to say no.

“An hour later I was at home having a moan about my purse being lost and imagining someone chucking it in the bin.

“Then the phone rang, my purse had been found. The driver had found it by his window, I left it there after I'd paid.

"I asked for the address of the garage and worked out that I could get there via two buses the next day.

“Then the man on the phone said 'Gary, the driver, said he can bring it round to your house this evening'.

“30 minutes later I opened the door, and blow me down it was the same driver. Two lovely deeds in one day.

“I just wanted to share this to thank Gary and TFL staff that go out of their way to be kind. It can be a frazzled world out there, and in a moment of stress I was so grateful for Gary's kind actions."