HE HAS been on the buses in Huddersfield for 40 years but now, Mohan Singh Sokhal’s distinguished career behind the wheel has reached its final stop.

Mr Sokhal, of Lee Fold, Lindley, started as a conductor with the Huddersfield Corporation in 1968 before becoming a driver.

He retired the day before his 65th birthday – after clocking up something close to ¾million miles.

The grandfather-of-two said: “I’m quite emotional.I have really enjoyed it – you get to talk to all kinds of different people.

“It has been a long time. I’ll miss it.”

Mr Sokhal’s first journey was on the number 40 bus to Keldregate, Deighton.

His last was the number 183 and 185 bus in Marsden. He even wrote the vehicle’s serial number – 66766 – in his diary so he would remember it.

He said: “I have seen so many changes. The job is getting so much harder because of congestion.

“The roads are a lot busier now than when I started and motorists are generally not as considerate and courteous as they used to be.

“A lot of my passengers know me as I have seen them grow up to adulthood and I’ve seen them getting on the bus with their children.”

Mr Sokhal, who came to England from India in the mid-1960s, has also been Labour councillor for Greenhead ward for 19 years.

He was Mayor of Kirklees in 2001-02.

And he has also been a magistrate in Huddersfield since 1992.

He said: “I didn’t intend to be a driver for 40 years but, because I was heavily involved in community organisations – the Labour Party, the trade union, the council – I never thought to change my job because I was so busy.

“I think it’s why I got a lot of support in the elections, because people know me.

“It’s very hard work doing two jobs but the company have helped a lot with giving me time off for my other responsibilities.”

He said he would continue as a councillor and magistrate.

“I want to keep busy,” he added.

Mr Sokhal was presented with a glass bowl and gifts by colleagues at First bus company yesterday.

Ken Farrington, branch secretary for the trade union Unite, said: “Mohan is a true gentleman who always puts other people before himself and his contribution to the community and the workers he has represented has been immense.

“He will be sadly missed.”