One man bus band (From Warrington Guardian)

One man bus band

IAN Howard is a real one-man band. He is the driver, ticket collector and mechanic for his one-man bus company!

"It's a lot of hard work," said the 24-year-old.

"I work 12 hours a day, six days a week."

Ian set up used to work as a mechanic for another bus firm but decided to strike out on his own.

He set up Green Line buses with a £4,000 grant from the Princess Trust.

He bought a second hand single decker bus and last month began operating on a circular route on the busway to Halton Lea.

"It's going great so far, all the passengers seem to like it because we have low fares," said Ian, from Warrington.

"We are hoping to expand and get some more staff and hopefully offer more services on other routes. The support we've had from people so far has been great.

"We are operating in the black but it's tight at the moment."

He added: "The Princess trust has been excellent. They put me on management courses for all different skills like bookkeeping.

"They offer a good service to young people like me starting their own business."