JUST weeks after passengers voted her the best bus driver in her company, Zek Mustafa is having to wave them goodbye.

Her company has said it will no longer be running the route where she is so well-loved.

It will now be run by another company, and Ms Mustafa will be re-deployed to Buckinghamshire.

Ever since she was little, Ms Mustafa wanted to be a bus driver and said she found her dream job driving the 120, 121, 123 and 124 between Watlington, Chinnor and Thame.

And At the end of March, she was crowned bus driver of the year for the whole of Arriva at the company’s Make a Difference Awards in Stratford Upon Avon.

But the firm company has now said it will not be renewing its contract with Oxfordshire County Council to run the service at the end of May.

Ms Mustafa, a former care home worker, said her passengers were “absolutely devastated”.

The 48-year-old said: “I would much rather stay with my passengers. They all voted for me as the best bus driver. It is a very sad day.”

Ms Mustafa, who lives just across the border in Buckinghamshire, said she loved buses when she was growing up in north London and wanted to be a driver.

She ended up working at a care home in Buckinghamshire and found herself driving a bus, so she applied to Arriva about four years ago.

She said: “The manager at the time said ‘I’ve got just the job for you’ because the majority of my passengers are old-age pensioners and I’ve never looked back.

“I love my job. The routes I do are out in the sticks – Chinnor, Thame, Watlington. It’s more or less the same bus every day so you get to know the passengers.”

One of her regulars, Laura Townsend of Chinnor, said: “Passengers have been saddened to learn that Arriva have not tendered for the service, so after about four years Zek will be forced to change routes or move on.

“She is a remarkable person who deserves the recognition this award has brought.

“She knows all her passengers by name and all the time she’s chatting as people get on and off.

“Zek’s a diamond, making a difference to people’s lives and brightening their day.”

Arriva said it was “delighted” that customers felt strongly enough to vote for Ms Mustafa, but confirmed it will not operate the service after May.

Spokesman Ken Hargreaves said: “We are in the process of arranging new duties of work for our drivers and it is likely that Zek will be on local routes around Aylesbury. and I am sure all our customers in the area will benefit from having such a highly professional and customer-focussed driver.

“We are very proud of her.”