Bouncy border collie boards the bus to Brighton

The ten-year-old dog clambered on to the 700 Coastliner in Shoreham High Street, along with passengers.

At first, everyone thought Archie was with someone else but eventually it became apparent the dog was on his own.

Luckily, bus passengers Yvonne Rowling and Robin Herbert, of Atlantic Court, Ferry Road, Shoreham Beach, had an inkling who the owner might be.

She knew Archie as a puppy, though its owners and their former neighbours Darren and Kate Ross moved from Atlantic Court two years ago.

“We saw a dog wandering around at the bus stop. It looked a little like Archie but I wasn’t sure it was him at first,” explained Yvonne.

“We are both nutty about dogs so we made a fuss of him. When the bus came, we got on and he followed us on. Maybe he remembered us from where we live. He was probably going to get off but people got on behind him. He probably thought he might get a treat or something.”

She decided to put a call in to Darren at his shop, Darren Ross Jewellers, in High Street, Shoreham.

He said: “I told her Archie was in the basement but when I looked, he had disappeared. He must have sneaked out when I was with a customer. It is a tiny shop, so he must have just wandered past.

“When the pet shop was there, he used to nip out and they would give him a sausage all the time.

“Everyone knows him around here. I don’t know why he got on the bus. He has never done that before.”

Darren said Archie goes into work with him every day and they usually walk.

“We used to get the shuttle when the footbridge was closed but don’t usually get the bus,” he added.

Yvonne said the plan at first was to take the bus to Brighton, where she had been intending to shop, then stay on when it turned around for the return journey.

“I think the driver realised because everyone was talking about it. He got out of the bus at Portslade and made a phone call.

“Once we had identified Archie, we said we would look after him.”

But she started getting worried about Archie and it was agreed Kate would collect the dog in Brighton.

Yvonne explained: “He had gone a bit quiet, he wasn’t the same bouncy dog I remembered, and I thought there was no way he was going to stay on another half hour. He was a good boy and so pleased to see his mum. He is a lovely dog. He knew we were looking after him.”

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