The infamous Manchester bus wars sparked by 'cheerful boxes on wheels'

They were mini buses that zipped around Manchester and passengers could hail then like a taxi. The city's 'bread van' buses are remembered fondly across our region as a quirky relic from the past.

In the 1970s and '80s, public transport in Manchester was synonymous with orange buses. In the mid-1980s, the Conservative government introduced The Transport Act of 1985, which deregulated bus services across Britain.

This restored powers to bus operators by removing the public sector's role in setting fares, determining routes, and determining bus frequencies. Thatcher's privatised model is said to have sparked the 'bus wars' as operators fiercely competed for passengers.

READ MORE: Secrets from the world of the 24-hour party people in Manchester's hottest clubs

READ MORE: The film set in Manchester banned for its 'unwatchable' scenes

One operator to take advantage of deregulation was the Bee Line Buzz Company, which started operating a minibus service across Greater Manchester in January 1987. Instead of opting for traditional double-deckers, the new high-frequency service saw the 18-seater yellow minibuses operate every seven or eight minutes.

Dubbed 'bread van' buses, they were unique for their 'hail-and-ride' service, where passengers could flag down the buses anywhere along their route, much like a cab. The branding also helped set the single-decker buses apart, adopting the yellow and black colours synonymous with the Manchester worker bee. At the back of the little buses was the slogan 'The eaziest [sic] way from A to Bee'.

Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and, Breaking News group by clicking this link

In March 1987, the Manchester Evening News reported that the "cheeky, cheerful boxes on wheels" carried 30,000 passengers daily. With a fleet of around 200 minibuses running services in Altrincham, Stockport, Wythenshawe, and Manchester city centre, they became Greater Manchester's second largest bus operator behind GM Buses just months after starting to operate.

GM Buses chief executive Ralph Roberts called the little yellow buses "the biggest single threat to our network". In response, the company launched their fleet of minibuses called Little Gems (GMs, get it?) just a month later.

Join our Greater Manchester history, memories and people Facebook group here.

As the bus wars began to get dirty, the number of overlapping routes and the increasing number of companies vying for passengers meant travellers had an almost bewildering choice of buses. A journalist for the M.E.N. wrote in March 1987: "There is still confusion, and not only among the public, as hundreds of buses in all shapes, sizes and colours compete for customers and cash in all sorts of strange places.

"That applies in a few areas, especially in south Manchester, where a fierce bus war means that passengers have never had it so good or so cheap".

Keith Whitmore, who was on the Passenger Transport Authority board in the 1980s, recalls the 'bus wars'.

Love Greater Manchester's past? Sign up to our new nostalgia newsletter and never miss a thing.

He said: "It was actually quite dangerous; there were these little Busy Bee buses whizzing up and down Wilmslow Road and cutting in front of double-deckers to rake off passengers waiting at the bus stop.

"The popular radial routes were like gangster warfare. The 192 service on the A6 was running alongside lots of operators, all the way from Hazel Grove to Piccadilly, trying to compete."

But it wasn't just rival bus companies that the Bee Line 'bread van' buses upset.

Just a few months after launching, the Bee Line Buzz Company began operating a 90p shuttle service between Manchester Airport and Stockport in April. The M.E.N. reported how cabbies were upset about losing their "bread and butter" fares to the upstart service.

However, one taxi driver said the true test of the new airport service would come from passengers laden with luggage and having to cope with children. Cab driver Peter Etherall told the M.E.N: "Some people might be tempted to get on the minibuses but they will soon find that there are big problems. There is nowhere to stow luggage and the journey between here and Stockport goes all around the houses. I think they are on a loser."

So what happened to the 'bread van' buses?

In 1988, the company was sold to Ribble Motor Services, which was later taken over by Stagecoach. By the 1990s, the small yellow minibuses had disappeared off our streets.

However, many still fondly remember the buses. The popular Manchester History Revisited Facebook page has previously shared images of Bee Line 'bread van' buses, which have attracted many positive comments from followers.

Andrea Anderson wrote: "Loved these buses. I was always so happy when my gran took me on one."

Sarah Robins - Mutter, said: "Apparently when I was about five and asked what I wanted to be when I grew up it was a bee line buzz driver!"

Phillip Barrow posted: "Great little all round the estate to town and home bus. You could stop them anywhere."

Jayne Greenop remembered: "I remember the busy bee bus. It would stop wherever you wanted on its route. I used to get it from the end of my road, Brompton Road in Rusholme, to Burton Road when I worked at Withington Hospital."

Do the Bee Line Buzz minibuses awaken any memories for you? Let us know in the comments section below.