A DIRECTOR of Thurrock-based Ensign Buses has spoken of his pride in the company and expressed gratitude to its supporters all over the country who followed and supported it in a national competition.

Ensign just missed out on the top prize in the British World Cup of buses, a customer and fan-led competition whereby bus companies across the country polled votes in head-to-head 'competition' with other bus companies.

Despite being relatively small compared to many of those who took part over two weeks of voting rounds, Ensign made it to the final but were just pipped by Nottingham City Transport in a final that wasn't without controversy!

Director Steve Newman says: "Obviously we were disappointed to come up short in the final especially as we had taken the lead with a few hours left when something suddenly happened and in one refresh we found ourselves 4% behind.

"The voting was then suspended and a new three hour poll was set up whilst that was investigated. Now I know very little about twitter polls or how they work or what happened but we took it on board and tried again to garner votes and did well getting a few thousand in those few hours but it wasn't enough. I'm proud of what we achieved though.

"It's always hard being an independent in such contests where size does and as the last independent operator in the competition it kind of highlighted that we again earned that title, albeit in a different competition, that we earned at the UK Bus Awards last year.

"It was all fun though and created some banter and goodwill with both staff and passengers and we send our congratulations to Nottingham for their hard fought win.

"And thank you to all those who supported us."