Apology issued to Bristol bus boycott campaigner

Guy Reid-Bailey, OBE, Roy Hackett, OBE, and Dr Paul Stephenson OBE led the campaign in the 1960s

A Bristol bus boycott member has received an apology from the council, 60 years after he was denied a job.

The Lord Mayor has written to Guy Reid-Bailey OBE, who helped overturn a ban by Bristol Omnibus Company on employing black and Asian drivers and conductors.

The apology comes alongside plans to bestow all of the boycott leaders with Freedom of the City status.

The council said it would honour some of "Bristol's most consequential citizens".

Mr Reid-Bailey received racist treatment when he was denied a job at the Bristol Omnibus Company in 1963, as it only hired white people to work on its vehicles.

The Bristol bus boycott was organised and its success not only resulted in the policy being overturned, but ultimately led to the Race Relations Act of 1965 - which banned all discrimination in the workplace.

Peaceful protests were organised across Bristol

The Bristol Omnibus Company was nationalised at the time and the predecessor organisation to Bristol City Council ran its operations within the city.

Deputy Mayor Asher Craig said leading the boycott took "tremendous courage".

She said: "The Bristol bus boycott had a lasting impact not only in our city, but across the UK, as it drew political attention to the treatment black people were facing.

"While the boycott is now rightly seen as what it was - a peaceful protest aiming to end racist employment practices - we shouldn't forget the level of opposition they faced at the time."

Freedom of the City status will be bestowed upon Roy Hackett, OBE, Guy Reid-Bailey OBE, Barbara Dettering, Owen Henry, Audley Evans, and Prince Brown at a full council meeting on 13 December.

A newspaper cutting shows students protesting against the ban in Bristol

All the honours will be awarded posthumously with the exception of Guy Reid-Bailey and Barbara Dettering.

Earlier this year Roy Hackett, who was described as a "humble freedom fighter", died at the age of 93.

Bristol bus boycott leader Paul Stephenson, OBE, received Freedom of the City in 2007.

Amirah Cole, Labour councillor for Ashley Ward, said: "Awarding Freedom of the City status is the highest civic honour that we can give someone, and is reserved for Bristolians who have made outstanding achievements.

"I would like to acknowledge that while the leaders of the boycott rightly receive plaudits for their campaign, the boycott would not have achieved its aim without the full support of the community.

"A personal example being my dad, who walked from Avonmouth to Montpelier every day as he refused to break the boycott by getting the bus."