Council bosses are encouraging a millionaire businessman to submit a bid for a park and ride contract after he unveiled a vision for a fleet of hydrogen buses in Kent.

Wrightbus owner Jo Bamford wants to have 3,000 “state-of-the-art” buses on UK streets by 2024 and is eyeing up Canterbury as prime location for his project.

His announcement comes as the Canterbury City Council, which last year ran a week-long electric bus trial, aims for a greener solution to its diesel-powered public transport service.

The park and ride contract - currently held by Stagecoach - is currently out for tender and companies tabling bids for hydrogen buses are being urged to put their names forward.

The council declared a climate emergency last summer and has committed to making its services carbon neutral by 2030.

Therefore, Mr Bamford believes hydrogen-powered buses - which only emit water vapour - are the way to go.

Wrightbus says it is “exploring all options for how zero emissions can improve air quality in Canterbury”.

“Cities around the world are seeing massive reductions in air pollution as many vehicles have been kept off the road during the pandemic,” he said.

“If we just go back to how public transport has traditionally been run, levels of pollution will quickly rise again to the same levels as before the crisis.

“We have an opportunity with hydrogen powered transport to make a huge difference to air quality, and for UK jobs as well.

“With increased orders on this scale I could increase the workforce at Wrightbus by nearly 700%.

“UK-made hydrogen buses are ready to hit the streets today.”

Despite his bold proposals for the UK and Canterbury, Mr Bamford is yet to submit a bid for the city’s park and ride contract.

The authority is therefore calling for an official application to be made.

Council spokesman Rob Davies said: “Due to the pandemic, the new park and ride tender process has been extended to July 3.

“The tender includes options for hydrogen buses to be submitted.

“Mr Bamford sounds pretty keen, so we’d encourage his company to get on and bid.

'Mr Bamford sounds pretty keen, so we’d encourage his company to get on and bid...'

“A decision on how to proceed will be made in the autumn but due to the delay, the current contract with Stagecoach will continue until March 31, 2021.”

A number of the environmentally-friendly buses already operate in London, and there have been orders from Aberdeen.

In Mr Bamford’s vision, 3,000 hydrogen buses - about 10% of the UK’s total fleet - could be silently moving around the UK in four years time.

He believes a sudden introduction of hydrogen buses will lead to a knock-on transformation of other heavy duty vehicles, such as lorries, trains, ships and ambulances.

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