A driverless car freewheeling down a Falmouth street was stopped from careering into the town centre yesterday thanks to the quick actions of one bus driver.

Robert Walker, a driver with First Bus, has been praised for his actions by the police after he maneouvred his double decker bus into the middle of Killigrew Street and brought the car to a halt.

The parked car suffered a handbrake failure at around 8.50am just above the junction of Trelawney Road and Killigrew Street and began to roll backwards down the hill towards the town centre.

"Robert was driving his bus towards the junction at the time, saw this happening and not sure whether the vehicle had a driver or not positioned his bus in the middle of the road letting the vehicle collide with his at a slow speed," PC Dave Jephcott said.

If not for Robert's action, "the vehicle would have picked up speed heading towards The Moor, which could have had disastrous consequences," PC Jephcott added.

A spokesperson for First in Devon and Cornwall said the company was "pleased that our driver was able to assist in preventing a more serious collision."

Slight damage was caused to the front of the bus, however, and passengers on board the number 88 had to be transferred to other services while the bus was taken back to the depot for repairs.

"By the end of Monday the bus had been repaired and it has been back on the road as normal since then," the spokesperson added.

No one was seriously injured as a result of the collision.