A bus driver who steered his elderly passengers away from danger during the London riots has been rewarded for his bravery.

Steven Boyle, 54, a driver for elderly and disabled passengers in Wimbledon, received an award for actions above and beyond the call of duty after rioters tried to smash their way onto his bus on the evening of August 8, 2011.

Mr Boyle was sitting at a set of traffic lights at the bottom of Tulse Hill Road, Brixton, when a group of masked men began to violently attack his bus.   He said: “There were about 15-20 masked men trying to rip the doors off and get on the bus but luckily the doors were locked.

“I don’t know what they wanted to do but it was a very frightening situation.”

He faced the violence on Monday 8 August during the riots having been a dial-a-ride driver for six years in the Brixton and Wimbledon areas.

Keeping a cool head, Mr Boyle slowly made his way through the crowd of rioters to take his three elderly passengers to safety.

He said: “I was worried more about the ladies than my safety. Whatever I would of had to have done, there was no way that I was going to let them come to harm.”

The three elderly passengers were shaken up by the incident but came to no harm and, keen to not let it affect those who use the service, Steven returned to work the next day.

Mr Boyle, who lives in Epsom, picked up the award in a ceremony at City Hall hosted by Transport for London but was keen to say he was only doing his job.

He added: “It is a pleasure to come to work and help anybody I can. It is a genuinely great job and I am glad to help the community out.”