A YOUNG bus rider could become a mini-celebrity on his route after having a giant photo of himself emblazoned on the back of a vehicle.

Four-year-old Martin Sharpe's larger-than-life image has been printed on one of Trent Barton's "nines" fleet, which run throughout Derbyshire.

The youngster, from Codnor, is one of nine regular passengers to have been picked for the firm's new advertising campaign.

His picture is accompanied by the slogan "nine toys I want for my birthday" – referring to his regular bus trips to Derby's toy shops.

And Martin's dad, Ian, said seeing his son's cheeky smile on buses around his town would take some getting used to.

He said: "We were travelling on one of the routes one day and saw a poster about the advertising campaign, asking for people to put themselves forward.

"So we sent a picture of Martin through to Trent Barton and didn't really think any more of it after that.

"Then a few weeks later, the company rang and said they wanted to do a photo shoot with him and now he's on the back of the bus – it's fantastic. Martin loves it as well – as soon as he saw himself he was pointing at it and saying 'that's my bus'."

The photo of Martin was first rolled out on to the streets on Monday and is on the back of a bus travelling from Alfreton, through Ripley and into Derby.

Mr Sharpe, of Mill Lane, Codnor, said Martin's 17-month-old sister, Tammy-Jane, recognised her brother straight away.

He said: "When I first saw him on the bus I took a photo on my phone and then loaded it up on to our television screen.

"Martin's hair has grown a lot since the photo shoot but you can still tell it's him. Tammy-Jane saw it on the screen and pointed from it to Martin straight away.

"I've now been tasked with getting as many photos of it as I can. Every time I see the bus now, as long as I'm not driving, I'm going to be following it round with my camera."

Trent Barton's advertising campaign aims to encourage more people to leave their cars at home and use buses to get about. The nine regular users are each pictured on the back of one vehicle, along with a slogan explaining why they get on the bus.