ALMOST 6,000 people took advantage of the Kingsbridge Vintage Bus Running Day last weekend, including possibly a parrot.

The organiser of the event Colin Billingham said: ‘The day went very well with record ridership, which increased by more than 10 per cent from last year’s total and the previous record of 5,300 passenger journeys to almost 6,000.

‘Canine ridership also increased by over 30 per cent, from 48 to 63 dog journeys.

‘One conductor’s waybill also recorded a parrot, but we’re not sure whether this was alive or dead – although the note said it was not a Norwegian Blue.’

Thirty nine buses ran on 23 different routes on Saturday, September 19, and several services were duplicated, which enabled riders to exchange buses at the outer terminus.

The most popular routes were Salcombe, with 998 passenger journeys, Slapton with 818, Hope Cove with 662 and the Kings-bridge Town Service with 400.

The last was operated by two of the oldest buses, so passengers were treated to a ride on either the 1929 Leyland Lioness ‘all-weather’ coach or the 1934 Dennis Mace country bus. Both did extra journeys on top of the number scheduled in the timetable to try to meet demand.

Colin continued: ‘Overall we operated at just over 61 per cent of available capacity, so there was plenty of spare capacity on most departures. The most popular vehicle by seat utilisation was a 1962 Bristol SUL coach, which ran at full capacity on all its routes.

‘The vehicle that ­carried the largest ­number of passengers during the day was the oldest double-deck, a former Western National 1950 Bristol K6B, which was ­featured on the cover of the programme crossing Bowcombe Creek on New Bridge, with 296 passengers.

‘We had a tremendous reception from our passengers, which was great for the vehicle owners and volunteers, many of whom had travelled long distances at their own expense to be involved.

‘We’re very grateful to our sponsors and programme advertisers, who helped to cover our costs in mounting the running day, in ­particular our principal sponsor, Kingsbridge’s own Tally Ho! Coaches, which helped with vehicle maintenance, breakdown cover, ­publicity and support in many other ways.’

Next year’s running day is scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 17, 2016.

For more information, visit www.tvagwot.org.uk/event-kingsbridge.htm.