As well as some cupboard staples, Ruth picked up an unwanted admirer at the supermarket…
Packing the last of my shopping, I pulled out my purse from my handbag.
I’d just done a huge £250 weekend shop at my local Aldi store after realising my cupboards were bare.
My two girls Eve, eight, and five-year-old Poppy and I had returned a few days earlier from a week’s holiday in Morocco, and we’d had a fabulous time.
Now, with the children back at school, it was time to stock up again with the essentials.
Milk, eggs, bread, cookies, chicken nuggets, you name it, I’d bought it.
Pushing the heaving trolley. laden with bags, out into the carpark, I pulled out my phone and ordered an Uber.
I’d been taking driving lessons and hoped to pass my test soon and get a car, but for now I still relied on buses, trains and taxis.
Recently, I’d been relying on Uber as Poppy was autistic and often refused to walk.
It wasn’t long before the white car registered on the app pulled up in the car park and a middle-aged man jumped out.
Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and wearing glasses, he looked ordinary, if a little scruffy.
‘Hiya love, I’ll help you with the bags,’ he said.
‘Thanks very much,’ I replied, smiling.
He’s helpful, I thought, smiling.
As a single mum, I was always grateful for the kindness of strangers and to people who went out of their way to help me.
After loading my eight shopping bags into the boot, I climbed into the back of the car, ready for the seven-minute drive home.
‘Is it just you and the children?'
All I needed to do when I got home was to unpack the shopping which would give me ample time to pick up the girls from school.
But as soon as the driver had started the car, he turned to me.
‘How old are you?’ he asked.
It was an odd question to ask, but I didn’t think there was a problem telling him.
‘I’m 26,’ I replied.
‘Is it just you and the children, no man?’ he added.
‘Er yeah, that’s right,’ I said, starting to feel uneasy.
After a while, he carried on.
‘I don’t know this area. Do you know where I can get a coffee?’
‘I don’t drink coffee, but I imagine you can get one in McDonalds or Costa,’ I replied.
Why don’t you just Google it? I wondered.
‘Where do you drink?’ he went on.
‘I don’t drink, and I rarely go out.’ I replied.
'Oh, do you live here?'
Starting to feel uncomfortable, I willed the journey to end.
Then just as he turned into my road and we were approaching my flat, he started again.
‘Oh, do you live here? I know who lived in your house before you,’ he muttered.
‘Oh right, do you?’ I said nervously.
So why had he said he didn’t know the area? I wondered.
As soon as he pulled up outside my house, I jumped out of the car.
He opened the boot, and I scooped up some of the bags, hurrying down my garden path.
‘Can I help you upstairs with them?’ he called after me.
‘No, it’s fine if you leave them by the front door,’ I replied.
Suddenly my Staffie cross came running out wagging her tail.
‘What’s her name?’ he asked.
‘Bow,’ I replied.
The man called her over and because she was such a friendly dog, she ran up to him.
He bent down, stroking her soft head and fondling her, obviously playing for time.
‘She’s a lovely dog,’ he said.
‘Yes, she is,’ I said, trying to coax her back inside.
Finally, after going back and forth to the front door a few times, all my bags were safely inside my flat.
‘Well, bye then,’ he said.
‘Yeah, bye,’ I replied.
Hesitantly, he walked back up the garden path towards his car.
I closed the front door and breathed a sigh of relief.
What a weirdo, I thought, but soon dismissed him from my thoughts.
I quickly unpacked my shopping and then raced out of the door just in time to get the girls from school.
The following day I took them pumpkin picking before giving them dinner and putting them to bed.
Then I flopped into bed myself, exhausted from my busy day.
I was just dozing off at around 10.30pm when Bow, who slept in my room, started barking.
‘Shhh,’ I said, calming her down.
She carried on, but I was so tired I couldn’t muster the energy to get up and check on what she was barking at.
I must have drifted off, because the next thing I knew it was 6.45am the following morning and time to get the kids up again for breakfast.
I went into the kitchen to make my cup of tea but something stopped me in my tracks.
Before I did anything, I decided to look at my Ring Doorbell footage.
What I saw chilled me to the bone.
In full view was the same white car with the Uber driver in it, pulling up in front of my house at around 10.30pm.
When the man got out, I noticed he was wearing the same clothes he’d had on when he’d given me a lift.
So that was what Bow was barking at!
He walked up the path, rang my door bell and even tried the door handle.
Then he started pacing back and forth and even threw stones up at my daughters’ bedroom window.
I continued watching in horror, unable to believe what I was seeing.
My daughters’ bedroom had LED lights on so it was obvious it was a child’s room.
Why would he do that?
He hung around for about eight minutes, pacing back and forth before hesitantly leaving.
Shocked to the core, I immediately called the police.
Minutes later, officers arrived at my house, and I showed them the footage.
‘We’ll go and talk to him,’ they said.
I also called Stockport Council as well as Uber, who said they would investigate and send me a refund.
Stockport Council also said they would suspend the driver’s licence.
But what good was that?
The whole episode has left me terrified.
What was he doing at my house at that time of night and what if my girls had woken up and I had opened the door?
There’s no way someone like that should hold an Uber licence and I want to warn everyone.
I’m not sure what I’ll do now.
I’m taking driving lessons but in the meantime I will have to find another way to get my kids to school.
The experience has shaken me to the core.
Ruth Ratcliffe, 26, Stockport
A spokesperson for Uber said: ‘What has been described is totally unacceptable and we are currently investigating what happened. Everybody should feel safe when riding with Uber. All drivers who use the Uber app are required to follow our Community Guidelines and anyone found to be in breach of these guidelines risks losing access to the app.’