The first rear engine double deck vehicles ordered for use in the Brighton area were in the initial batch of Bristol VRTs ordered by Brighton Hove & District in 1969. These were delivered after the transfer of the business to Southdown Motor Services Ltd and in the red and cream livery of BH&D. These ten vehicles were numbered into the 2000 series reserved for the BH&D fleet.
The Bristol VR/ECW combination was the “standard issue” double decker for the National Bus Company and arrived in some numbers. The vast majority had front doors apart from a smaller number of dual door vehicles and 30 convertible open-topped vehicles.
They served across the operating area and, like the Queen Mary Titans, were long lived in service.