A MULTI-MILLION pound bus contract has put an East Lancashire company on the road to success and the Millennium Dome.

East Lancashire Coachbuilders, based at Whitebirk Industrial Estate, Blackburn, beat competition from all over Europe to win the contract to build 17 coaches which will be used to transport visitors to and from London's Millennium Dome.

Works Manager Bernard Hunt said: "The first eight buses are finished and the rest will be on the road within the next week.

"We are a local firm with 311 employees and basically just one designer and we faced tough competition from all over Europe for the contract but eventually London Transport opted for our design.

"The buses are equipped with easy access equipment for the disabled and all the latest technology.

"Three of them will be especially environmentally friendly and are gas-propelled and another nine will operate on a signal pulse laid into the roads which mean they drive themselves.

"There is a driver present on board but only as a safety precaution.

"The buses are a completely new design and are finished in the traditional red of London buses but with a Millennium Dome design on them.

"However it is company policy to change any letter 'i' in the names of buses to 'y' so the new fleet will be marked 'Myllennium'.

"We have buses in operation in France and Singapore but this is one of our most prestigious contracts and we are delighted with the results."

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