THE owner of the Williams F1 team is working with a North-East bus operator on fuel efficiency.

Williams Grand Prix Holdings' Advanced Engineering division is supporting Go-Ahead.

Go-Ahead runs about 675 buses in the region, employing more than 2,000 people to provide services covering Tyne and Wear, County Durham, Teesside and Northumberland.

The announcement came as Williams revealed overall group income was £46.6m in the first half, down from £56.4m in the same period last year.

Mike O'Driscoll, chief executive, said: "At the beginning of the second half of last year we began an ambitious strategy to rebuild the Formula One organisation, develop a strong advanced engineering division, and divest non-core operations. We have already made substantial progress towards our objectives.

"This strategy has required significant investment, as illustrated by our first half results, and it is anticipated this will also impact the full-year results."

Williams' Formula One team was launched by Sir Frank Williams and won its last championship came in 1997.