A CONVOY of 11 Yellow Buses journeyed along Bournemouth’s prom last week after the company spent £1.4million modernising its fleet.

One of the buses was already in service and the other 11 joined it on the streets of the town later in the day.

Yellow Buses was given special permission to drive them along the seafront between Boscombe and Bournemouth at around 7am, with the event being recorded for a promotional video.

The 11.5metre long buses are StreetLife Max low-floor single deckers. The company bought eight of the same model last year and said they had proved popular with passengers.

Their arrival means the company has acquired 48 new buses in the last six years, costing more than £5m.

One of the new vehicles is already on the A1 shuttle service serving Bournemouth Airport.

The other 10 will be used across the Yellow Buses network until April 6, when they will be introduced on the 1A route between Bournemouth and Somerford from April 6.

Jenni Wilkinson, head of marketing at Yellow Buses, said passengers liked the existing StreetLife Max vehicles.

She added: “With 15 million customers a year we need vehicles which can offer a high quality standard as well as to be able to manoeuvre quickly and easily.”

Yellow Buses operates a fleet of 137 buses and 18 coaches with a staff of 450.

It carries more than 15 million passengers a year, with its vehicles operating nearly five million miles.