A WARBURTONS delivery driver has become an internet hero after he stopped his lorry to help an elderly lady across the street.

Kevin O'Connor, who is a driver at the Burnley bakery, helped the lady while driving through Dunscar, along the A666, heading back to the depot, on October 21.

Mr O'Connor said: "While driving through Dunscar, past the Business Park on Friday afternoon, the traffic was quite slow and heavy, a small van in front of my vehicle had stopped to allow an elderly lady to cross the road.

"The lady had hesitated in crossing so the van drove off, but I realised the lady was potentially flustered in crossing at this busy time, so I put the hazard lights on the vehicle to warn the traffic behind me and then climbed down from the cab and approached her.

"After checking that she did indeed want to cross the road, I helped her across and we had a little chat, then I got back in the cab and went on my way.”

The following day Mr O'Connor was made aware that his gesture of good will had been noticed and posted on Facebook, with the post attracting more than 7.5k likes on the social media site and almost 1,000 shares.

Louise Fowles who published the post on Facebook with a picture of the lorry, said: "Well done Warburton driver of this lorry today, on the A666 heading back to the depot at about 11am.

"Had to stop due to traffic in the road and saw an elderly lady trying to cross.

"He jumped out and escorted her across. Lovely to see that chivalry, respect and a good heart is still around."

Gary Dugdale, warehouse and driver operations manager of Warburtons, Burnley, said: "We’re very proud of our drivers, who are not only extremely professional and courteous on the road but always put people first and lend a hand when an opportunity arises.

"We are, and always have been, a family company with strong values and our employees are really at the heart of Warburtons, living these values day to day and supporting our local communities.”