Bus company Stagecoach has unveiled a touching tribute to one of its longest-serving drivers.
Ray Jones, who died in January, is being remembered by colleagues and bus passengers in Barrow with a commemorative license plate that has been attached to one of Stagecoach’s buses.
The plate reads BA60 RAY – with BA for Barrow, 60 for the year Ray was born as well as his age when he passed away, and his name accompanying it.
Willie McPhail, operations manager at Stagecoach Barrow, said: “After Ray died we wanted to do something to remember him. We think he deserved to be remembered in the workplace as he had been here since Stagecoach came to Barrow.
“Our managing director, Rob Jones, suggested that we get one of our double-decker buses painted in our new livery. He had seen on the DVLA website that there was a number plate we could buy with the registration number BA60 RAY.”
Ray, who mainly drove the 6 and X6 route, started working for Stagecoach when it first came to Barrow in the 1980s.
Drivers across the entire company donated money to go towards buying the registration plate. The money left over from these donations will be given to the North West Air Ambulance Service, one of Ray’s favourite charities.
“Everybody knew Ray because he had been here longer than anybody and he was also our local union representative,” said Willie.
“He wasn’t just a work colleague, he was a friend to many people including myself.”
