BUSES have been taking passengers around Sussex or a very long time, since horse and carriage days to be exact.

There is no doubt that our older readers will have memories of the changes made to these services over the decades.

Organised horse bus routes first began running in Brighton and Hove around the middle of the 19th century.

It was towards the end of the century, in 1884, that the Brighton, Hove and Preston United bus company was formed as a consequence of the amalgamation of a number of smaller horse bus companies.

It consequently became the main bus provider in the area.

Following a number of mergers which saw the bus service expand dramatically throughout the 20th century, the company legally changed its name to Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company Limited in April 1986.

Our main picture today shows a group of jubilant passengers boarding one of the company’s buses.

Can you tell The Argus where they were boarding from?

Perhaps you recognise one of them?

A set of new Dennis Buses was presented to the then Mayor of Brighton Bob Cristofoli in 1985, adding to the growing fleet.

In 2000, 20 more low floor Dennis Tridents joined the fleet.

In 2005, Brighton and Hove took over Stagecoach operations in Lewes, Seaford, Eastbourne and Uckfield depots, involving services 12, 23B, 28, 29, 92F and 137.

This was also when the bus company saver tickets split into two types – the CitySaver and SuperSaver.

Can you tell us any more about the Busy Bee service that was introduced to Brighton and Hove in 1986?

A mascot for this service can be seen posing above.