A politician stumbled across the bizarre scene of a police horse climbing onto the 43 bus in Upper Street.

Islington Gazette: A police horse gets on the 43 bus in Upper Street, Islington. Picture: Simon CrowcroftA police horse gets on the 43 bus in Upper Street, Islington. Picture: Simon Crowcroft (Image: Archant)

Simon Crowcroft, 58, is the elected mayor of St Helier in Jersey, and is currently staying with friends in London.

Yesterday morning, PC Dan Smith was helping a passenger who had collapsed. And Mr Crowcroft, who had made a wrong turning, told the Gazette this morning: “We were making our way across Angel having just been walking on the canal.

“We had actually got lost when we came across this strange scene of a horse appearing to get on a bus outside Sainsbury’s. It was just a very unusual image, and I always keep my phone handy due to the nature of my work.

“You couldn’t see anything inside the bus, as a big horse was in the way. But it was obvious a mounted police officer was assisting at the scene.”

The man who collapsed was taken to hospital as a precaution, and Mr Crowcroft’s pictures have unsurprisingly attracted huge attention.

He added: “It was a good outcome as the man was OK, and I am happy the pictures have been so widely shared because it emphasised the role that police play in looking after the community, which can often go unnoticed.”