AN angry bus driver who was targeted by thieves following an accident today faces paying back the �200 takings out of her own pocket.

AN angry bus driver who was targeted by thieves following an accident today faces paying back the �200 takings out of her own pocket.

Wendy Little said she felt “depressed and let down” following the theft after her bus collided with a lorry and she got out to direct traffic around the accident scene.

She said she was particularly upset because First Ipswich bus drivers have to pay the money themselves if thefts take place before the money is handed into the depot.

She said: “It is counted as your own money until you finish work and give it in.

“I feel so depressed and let down and could not sleep last night for worrying about it.

“It is a lot of money to lose and we live on a shoestring as it is.”

The 57-year-old had driven the First Ipswich service in from Felixstowe when she stopped in Fore Street, Ipswich, because of the minor collision.

Mrs Little said: “After the accident I took the money out of the cash tray and put it into a cloth bag and into another bag which I zipped up.

“There was more than �200 in takings and �40 of my own money.

“Then I was directing traffic round the accident.

“After I had driven back to the Cattle Market and dropped the passengers off I picked my bag up and immediately realised it felt very light.”

Mrs Little, who has been a bus driver for 13 years, said whoever took the cash must have been able to see her put the money into the bag via the mirror in her cab shortly after the incident at 10.30am on Tuesday.

Gussy Alamein, marketing and communications manager for First Eastern Counties Buses, said: “There was an incident of theft from one of our drivers which is currently being investigated by the police.”

He added the matter of drivers having to pay the money back themselves was based on individual circumstance and subject to an internal investigation.

Anyone with information about the theft should contact Pc Pete Gill, of the Ipswich Neighbourhood Response Team, on 01473 613500 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

n. Do you think Mrs Little should have to pay back the cash herself? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or email starnews@eveningstar.co.uk