A SALISBURY bus company is celebrating for the second year in a row as it receives two national awards.

Parent company of Salisbury Reds, Go South Coast, won the title Large Bus Operator of the Year last week at the RouteOne Awards, as well as earning the Environment Award for the company's objective to improve air quality across the south.

The team were fighting against bus and coach competitors all across the country, and were successful in gaining the large operator status for the second consecutive year.

The ceremony took place at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole, and managing director for Go South Coast, Andrew Wickham, said their two-year winning streak is an "extremely rare achievement" adding: “It is not possible to achieve this level of success without a huge amount of talent, dedication and hard work - and my team has this in abundance.

"We pride ourselves on the fact that we continuously seek new ways to improve the services we offer.”

The company has been focussing on improving commuting and leisure journeys based on customer feedback, as well as encouraging residents to use bus travel as an alternative to driving.

"We have made it our mission to encourage more people to travel by bus because just one double decker has the potential to take up to 75 cars off the road," Andrew added.

“All this, combined with our focus on improving the frequency and reliability of our services still further, is steadily increasing the number of bus journeys made here in Salisbury - bucking the national trend.”