'My wife wants to sell my collection of 23 buses'

Wesley Tierney's wife Laura is "desperate" for him to sell his vintage bus collection

A man who has collected 23 vintage buses is resisting pressure to sell them.

Wesley Tierney's lifelong obsession with buses began when he was 10 and he went to work with his dad, who drove a Leland Lynx in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.

The 34-year-old from Essex bought the exact bus that his dad once used from a private collector in Newcastle and has now restored it to how it was in his childhood.

He estimated he could earn about £200,000 if he sold the buses, but was reluctant despite demands from his wife, Laura Tierney, 31.

The bus that means most to him is one his dad drove during his childhood

The couple, who have been together for a decade and live in Hatfield Broad Oak, Essex, had six buses at their wedding in June 2024.

When he took his buses out on the road, his wife worked as his conductor, wearing a full uniform with a ticket machine around her neck.

"I think she's waiting for the day they will pay for the extension and the kitchen refurb in our house," he explained.

"She's supportive, she helps me, but she does not think I need that many buses, and she's desperate for me to sell them."

Mr Tierney's focus is on collecting buses from the 1930s and 1940s, but his oldest vehicle is a model from 1929.

The buses were usually found at scrap heaps and needed restoring. He added: "I often tell myself I'm the only one to save them."

"My particular interest is the really vintage ones from before the Second World War broke out.

"They are so full of character, and you need to imagine, when you're out on your own on a country lane, if you don't see anything that tells you you're in the 21st Century, you could be back in time."

Most of the buses he collected were from before the Second World War

Restoring his father's bus from his childhood cost about £7,000.

The collection is kept on various farms in Hertfordshire, and the buses were driven by Mr Tierney to events across the country.

He also used them to take friends on trips and added: "We particularly like going into central London and driving around the city, especially at night, because the older buses come alive at night because of the bulbs they have in the saloons.

"You're never a dull person at a party when you own a bus."