I was hooked on a bus simulator game, so I bought my own double-decker at 15 – now I’ve passed my test and drive it

BUS fan Liv Rayment is driving a double-decker she bought seven years ago — at the age of 15.

Hooked on a bus simulator video game, she stumped up £4,500 for the Arriva vehicle thanks to a loan from a pal.

The bus, four months older than her, was set to be scrapped.

Liv, now 22, has since given it a fresh lick of paint but chose to keep the original seats.

She said: “When I was 13, I had a friend of a friend who owned a bus and there’s a community of people who own them.

“I found the idea of owning a bus and restoring old ones really cool.

“My parents weren’t too warm to it and thought it was a bit odd. But they were quite happy that I wasn’t going out and doing bad things at the weekend.”

Liv, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, passed her bus test ten months after completing her A-levels.

She now works as a coach driver and admin manager at Warwickshire-based Ridleys Coaches.

She drives her double-decker to bus-owner rallies, as well as using it to train other young learner bus drivers. And she has racked up 100,000 followers on TikTok.

Liv added: “My boyfriend has no idea what’s going on but I’d rather it stay that way because otherwise you’re getting home and talking about work.”