Eastern Counties LL809 (JCL 809V) in Mildenhall – 8 Sep 1993 (203-19)

Wednesday 8 September 1993 – The Suffolk County Council sponsored service 200 running approximately every 2 hours from Newmarket to Thetford via Mildenhall, Lakenheath and Brandon commenced operation on Monday 24 May 1993. It came about after National Express cutting back journeys and local stops on their service 747 the previous Saturday 22 May 1993.

Initially service 200 was operated by Cambus (and it’s associated Millerbus) and was advertised as a trial service operating for three months. Cambus/Millerbus ceased to be the operator after Saturday 4 September 1993 with the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company taking over on Monday 6 September.

On my way to visit my dentist (whose building is beyond the lawn on the right) I caught this quick shot of ECOC LL809 (JCL 809V) in King Street, Mildenhall when working the 1159 trip from Thetford. It is a Willowbrook bodied Leyland Leopard PSU3E/4R that was new as a National Express liveried coach in November 1979. In the split of ECOC LL809 passed to Ambassador Travel for continued use on National Express services between Norfolk and London. However, it later returned to ECOC and was fitted with bus seating for bus service work.