Ananova:

A British bus driver fed up with the competition from cheap European rivals has turned the tables by going to Poland to get a job.

And his message to pals back home is "Come on over here - it's a great life. I can't understand why all the Poles are heading off to the UK."

Paul Brannan, 43, from Newcastle, said: "Sure, you earn less, but as everything costs a fraction of what it does in the UK anyway I am no worse off here - and there are loads of jobs because all the Polish drivers have left.

"Poland is a great place to live, I've taken a job driving people through the mountains here in southern Poland.

"I had the idea after coming here on a ski-boarding trip three years ago and never looked back. The pay was more than enough - and now I have even married a Pole, Kamila, and don't see why I should ever go back. In fact, I'd urge other British drivers to copy me.

"In England sure they earn more, obviously, but they have to spend a lot more too. Life in Britain is very expensive, whereas here you can settle down very comfortably on a bus driver's wage."

He is living in the mountain town of Zywiec - known for its beer of the same name - and has plenty of time for skiing and snow boarding.

He said: "You can choose your job - the local bus service here snapped me up without an interview - they saw my application and called me straight away.

"Any one who sells a shoebox flat in the UK can afford a big house with a garden here. And once you move in, there are so many little things that make life better - no junk mail on the doorstep every morning for starters."

Paul's boss Stanislaw Herbert, head of the Zywiec bus service, said he was delighted to have found him.

"He passed all the exams, he can handle the route, he's hardworking, the passengers don't complain about him," he said.

A bus driver earns between about £240 and £340 a month in Poland.