Hilltown company O Rooney Coach Hire said yesterday Translink should have applied "a bit of common sense" and given greater weight to Marie Parker's 20 accident-free years driving buses in England.

Opportunity

Last night Mrs Parker said the offer had given her a "huge boost" but said Translink has not been in touch since telling her she may be reconsidered if she lost weight within six months.

O Rooney's proprietor, Oliver Rooney, said a driver's weight would not impact on their ability to drive unless they were grossly obese.

Policy

"We had a guy driving for us who was 18 stone and as fit as a fiddle – 12 stone (Mrs Parker's weight) is nothing," he told the News Letter.

"We have a guy who will take her out for a test drive – he will give us an honest assessment of her driving. If that goes well and we can agree terms then I'd be very happy to have her work for me."

Review

Yesterday, following a weekend of controversy, where the story made national headlines, Translink said it was reviewing its policy of refusing job interviews to people it decides are too fat.

The company also confirmed that the use of Body Mass Index (BMI) – a much-disputed way of measuring obesity – was only applied to drivers and not to office staff.

Apology

But Mrs Parker said Translink had yet to contact her to apologise or explain why it had decided she needed to lose weight.

The Co Down native said she found it "disgusting" that the publicly-owned company told her to lose weight if she wanted to be interviewed.

Translink said it "couldn't comment on individual cases".