Little Lemon hits streets of Brighton (From The Argus)

Little Lemon hits streets of Brighton

5:50pm Thursday 19th July 2012 in News By Adrian Imms

The Little Lemon taxi

With their bright yellow bodywork, Big Lemon buses have become a familiar sight across Brighton and Hove.

And now there’s a Little Lemon, too.

Where The Big Lemon initially offered an alternative choice in public buses, it now has its sights set on running a taxi service as well.

The city bus company, which operates a fleet of vehicles running on recycled cooking oil, bought an old London black cab in the spring.

It was soon rebranded as The Little Lemon and is now available for private hire.

Initially used as a staff vehicle, The Little Lemon has been attracting “a lot of attention” and staff haven’t ruled out a move into the city’s commercial taxi market.

Simon Pearson-Wood of The Big Lemon said: “We probably would buy more. Possibilities of a Little Lemon taxi service have been mentioned, although no serious plans have been made.

Colourful character

“If we did, we would try to compete in a similar way to how we compete in the bus market; a friendly service that’s kind to the environment and easy on the pocket.”

Like its bigger brothers, the Little Lemon also runs on used cooking oil and sports the same yellow paint job.

Mr Pearson-Wood said: “Due to its colour and character we have been receiving more and more requests for it to be hired out privately for all sorts of events.

“We used it to take four people to a festival in Scotland and to transport a family and their newly-adopted son to his christening.

“It’s even been booked alongside our coaches for wedding parties as a carriage for the bride and groom.

“It has surpassed the expectations we had for it. It’s a great little addition to the team.”