TWO design students are going head-to-head in a public vote to decide the new look of a fleet of park-and-ride buses.

Students from New College Durham have been asked to come up with a makeover for the 10 buses which run in Durham City, which have been plain white since a new operator took over the service last year.

Entries have been whittled down to two finalists: Bliss Litliernhurnest, from Coxhoe, and Scott Foreman, from Stanley, both aged 20.

The pair have since visited the council’s design and print service to learn how their finished designs were being refined to fit the buses and see how they would look on the real thing.

The public will then get to decide which design will be used on all of the buses when the vote opens on June 12 via the council website.

Mr Foreman said: “It was really interesting to visit the design studio and get first-hand experience of the process and see how our designs are being adapted to go on the buses.

“I can’t wait to see what it looks like in real life and I really hope people vote for mine.”

His rival Ms Litliernhurnest added: “I'm delighted to have my design chosen to be in the final two and think even having it on one bus is an amazing opportunity to showcase my work."

Cllr Neil Foster, cabinet member for economic regeneration, said: “We’re really excited to help kick-start the career of two local students by working with them to design our new buses.

“Both of them have worked really hard on their designs and they look fantastic.

“We really hope as many people as possible get involved and start voting from June 12 to pick how they want the park and ride buses in Durham City to look.”