THE sequel to an 'astonishingly popular' book of short stories inspired by the number 13 bus has been published and a third could soon be on the cards.

Lucky 13, penned by eight members of Oxford Inc Writers Group, was a huge success, leading to the publication of the sequel Double Decker earlier this month.

Each story, in both books, revolves around the lives of those who use the service, which leaves Oxford Station at 1.15pm and arrives at the John Radcliffe Hospital 40 minutes later.

The series has so far raised more than £2,000 for the hospital's charitable funds department and former publisher Andrew Bax, who came up with the idea, said there was more to come.

Mr Bax said: "Lucky 13 sold around 750 copies which is quite astonishing for a local publication and it raised a significant amount of money – I think close to £2,000 – for the hospital.

"It was so popular that we launched the competition for the second book Double Decker at Oxford Literary Festival last year.

"We haven't established exactly how it will work but we have enough authors of proven abilities who have contributed to the first two books and it will most likely be a combination of those for the third book."

The first book was written by the authors after interviewing drivers and spending time on the 40-minute bus route to create 18 fictional tales.

Double Decker features submitted stories from bus users and contains around 20 tales.

In the latest instalment of the trilogy, the Drayton man said the collection of stories would make readers laugh, cry and think in equal measure.

One story features a university candidate from the Yorkshire Dales who is in Oxford for her interview when something unfamiliar and intimidating happens on the bus to her B&B.

Another, written by a Hungarian woman, sees a game of 'blindfold chess' on board the bus turn aggressive and a third sees a wedding guest trip and fall at the station before boarding the bus with a torn dress and bloodied face and getting unusual help from a rescuer.

The 73-year-old said: "All the stories either begin on or feature the bus and it's fascinating to see how they pan out and develop the personal lives of the characters involved.

"In fact some of the stories seem to be inter-related where perhaps the authors had experienced the same argument one day on the bus and that inspired their story."

The book can be bought for £8 from the John Radcliffe Hospital or can be ordered from bombusbooks.co.uk for £10.95.