A NEWPORT bus boss whose career has spanned six decade is to retire.

Gieni Dudek, 60, of the Gaer, started working for Newport Transport in 1969 aged 18 and only planned to stay long enough to save enough money to buy a car.

Now 42 years later he is getting ready to empty his last cash vault as he calls time on his lengthy career.

Over the years Mr Dudek, who was brought up in Pill, has worked as a bus driver, conductor and inspector before being promoted to operation manager in 2002 where he was in charge of a team of more than 100 drivers.

In recent times he has been responsible for managing and distributing the cash vaults used on buses to collect passengers’ fares.

The father-of-one to Ellie, 13, originally got the job through his mum who worked as a conductor in the 1950s and 60s.

He even met his wife Louise at the company in 1985 when she worked in the firm's pay roll department.

Mr Dedek said he could never have dreamt the firm would become the home he feels it is now and it will be hard to leave the team he calls his family.

He said: “I’m going to take away with me lots of fantastic memories, but probably most important of all are the people I have met over the years. I can walk down the high street in Newport any given day and know that I’ll bump into 50 people I know simply through having driven the buses. It’s been a wonderful 42 years.”

Mr Dudek plans to use his retirement to write a children’s novel and travel.