READ Commercials gave this vintage double-decker Routemaster bus a warm ‘welcome home’ after discovering it was manufactured in Blackburn.

The bus was built by Blackburn firm East Lancashire Coach Builders in the 1960s and has belonged to Warrington Council since then.

It came to Read Commercials for a full refurbishment and respray last week.

Craig Orrell, manager at Read Commercials in Oswaldtwistle, said: “My dad used to work at East Lancs Coachbuilders so he might have worked on it originally. Buses were really well crafted in those days — it wasn’t just an assembly line.

“My dad can remember the foreman going round and checking that all the screws were put in by hand and lined up the same way.”

Mr Orrell, from Blackburn, has worked with buses for over 20 years and his granddad worked on one of the Routemaster style buses as a conductor.

“I suppose buses do run in our family. Between me, my dad and my granddad it’s over 100 years experience,” he said.

Warrington Council had a fleet of 10 of these buses but have only retained this one which is now occasionally hired out for weddings.