PENSIONER Joyce Smith looks like an ordinary passenger when she steps on board one of Bolton's buses.

But drivers would probably give her a hug -- or a free ride -- if they knew who she really was.

For the 76-year-old from Morris Green is the reason why they stay warm and dry in winter.

Joyce was an electric welder at Watson's Steel for 42 years and she made the roof for their Crook Street depot.

But now, the home of the town's buses is in danger of being knocked down to make room for a supermarket.

And Mrs Smith, who fondly remembers building it in 1979, fears all her hard work will go to waste.

She said: "It would be a shame if the bus depot was demolished. It took months to make that roof and I would hate to see it knocked down."

Few people realise that the depot's roofing system once brought wide-eyed design engineers to Bolton from across Europe.

Mrs Smith and her workmates made the roof using a space-age construction system so it floats above the buses on just four supporting struts.

It is bigger than two football pitches and Watson's welders had to lift it in place in one go.

Mrs Smith, who will be 77 tomorrow, says it is one of her proudest achievements.

She said: "I started welding during the Second World War, when I was 18 years old. A lot of other girls became welders when the war started but they stopped when it finished.

"I carried on doing it for 42 years and was the only woman welder at the firm for a long time. But they were the best years of my life.

She added: "I worked on tanks, bridges, power stations -- I even helped build Heathrow Airport -- but the bus depot was very special.

"The work we did there was revolutionary at the time and I hope it hasn't all been for nothing."

Nobody has yet signed up for First Bus's plans to build a store at the site, but the company is understood to be in talks with a number of leading supermarket chains.