'You can learn how to drive a bus for free in Greater Manchester'

Since passing my driving test what feels like a lifetime ago (only eight years really) my reliable little motor has been a 0.9L engine bright yellow Peugeot 107. It's squeezed me into parking spaces most could only dream of accessing, around turns that looked like a lost cause, and many other tight holes.

So as I approached a 12 metre long single decker bus, with the task of driving it around a makeshift coned course within a car park, in a word, I was nervous. The sweating intensified when, in a typically stuffy bus, there were concerns that the seat could not be put back far enough for me to fit all of my 1.95 metres in.

I watched as a father and son took on the course, both tackling the coned chicane with ease. My own worries only grew when the man before me, who told us about his extensive HGV driving experience, struggled with the extremely sensitive brakes on the 12 tonne vehicle.

Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features.

He got the vehicle back in one piece, and now it was my turn at the crease. The extremely helpful senior instructor, Kenny Townley, showed me all the relevant buttons and gave us a lap to show us how it's done. How much I took in about what he was saying about mirror positions and more is a mystery as my head was saturated with thoughts of not crashing into Rochdale AFC's Crown Oil Arena.

Thankfully, I fit into the chair, but sitting bolt upright in a seat with a horizontal steering wheel was just one of the multitude of things different to my little 107. My foot was pushing down on the brake with all the force of my body as I tried my best to make no sudden movements and send the photographer flying.

I wasn't dreaming of going anywhere near