Stagecoach West offers free Remembrance weekend bus rides for veterans

Stagecoach West's Poppy Coach will be seen on the Oxford Tube route between Carterton and London

A bus company has offered free travel to veterans and serving personnel on Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.

Stagecoach West, which operates in Oxfordshire, said any veteran wearing medals or a Veterans Badge, armed forces personnel in uniform or carrying ID, would be entitled to free travel on all of its services.

The company hopes it will enable easy travel to services across the region.

All Stagecoach West's buses will be sporting poppies throughout November.

The operator has also commissioned a specially-wrapped Poppy Coach, designed and created with support from the Armed Forces Covenant and Ministry of Defence.

It will be seen on the Oxford Tube route between Carterton and London.

Managing director Rachel Geliamassi said the coach was "a longer-term gesture of appreciation and gratitude in recognition of the unique obligations of, and sacrifices made by, the Armed Forces".

"Many of our employees have served or have friends or family members with a connection to the Armed Forces, so it's really important we show our support," she said.

Stagecoach's work with the Armed Forces won them a Silver Employer Recognition Scheme award in July, recognising the bus operator as one of the top 100 employers for Armed Forces communities and veterans in the UK.

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