PEOPLE can take a trip down memory line when an OK bus returns to the roads of County Durham for the first time in more than two decades this weekend.

Tim Phillips, of Cambridgeshire, has restored a Leyland Tiger dual-purpose coach that was new to OK Motor Services in 1982 and continued in service until the firm was bought out in 1995.

Mr Phillips said: “It has been my dream to bring this vehicle home once we had discovered her history but a lot of restoration was needed, we live a long way away and it has taken a long time to organise."

The bus will be used to run mystery tours from Bishop Auckland, following some of its old routes on Saturday.

Journeys will depart from the Halfords stop on Bob Hardisty Drive, adjacent to the railway station, at 10.15am, 11am, 12noon, 1pm, 2pm, 3.30pm and 4.15pm. Travel will be subject to capacity and free, but donations towards the vehicle's upkeep are welcome.

The coach’s registration is LFT 5X, the fifth of six identical vehicles with consecutive numbers delivered to OK in February 1982, and it is the only survivor.

Mr Phillips said: “My wife Rosie and I had no idea what we had bought from a Kent breaker’s yard in November 2012– I was not an enthusiast or a restorer, just a slightly mad guy who liked the idea of a vehicle with enough seats for all the family.

“It was in a neglected state in faded white and bare metal.

"In the meantime, by an amazing set of coincidences I was introduced to Charles Marshall, former MD of OK and the man who ordered these buses from the factory. "Once he had told us the story we knew we had to reclaim the OK heritage."

He has subsequently formed his own company OK Motor Services Ltd and is a licensed bus and coach operator.