TWO teenagers loved their former school bus so much that when they found it was to be scrapped they stepped in and bought it.

They’ve now found a third fanatic through the social media photo site Flickr to help fund its purchase and restoration.

And on Sunday the bus-loving trio were at Duxford to show off to the rest of the world the double-decker once owned by Morley’s of Whittlesey.

Stephen Longmire, 19 and Nathan Merryweather, 17, were distraught to learn the bus they used to catch to Stanground College could be crushed.

Even though neither can drive they joined forces with 23-year-old Tom Mortlock of Whittlesey to raise �1,350 to buy the London Transport Leyland Titan bus.

Stephen, who caught the bus for two years before Morley’s ceased trading in 2005, said: “When we knew it was going to be scrapped we wanted to save it.

“Nathan and I soon realised when we became friends that we were both keen bus preservationists. We just said lets buy a bus, let’s own our own and let’s restore it. We searched everywhere for a Morley’s bus and eventually we found one.

“We had a look at it, liked it, and it started up first time. “Some of our mates call us bus geeks but we don’t care, we take pride in what we’re doing.

“Many people our age want to do up motorbikes or cars but we like working on buses.”

The firm’s last existing Titan had sat in the Winwick depot, near Huntingdon, for four years before it was saved.

When it wasn’t taking youngsters to Stanground College or operating on the 701 route from Peterborough to Whittlesey - which Tom used to take - the 30-year-old bus appeared on an episode of ITV drama London’s Burning.

Morley’s formed in 1922 after John Robert Morley bought his first 14-seater bus for �12.

Nathan said: “It was the demise of Morley’s that got me interested in buses in the first place.

“The double-decker bus is a symbol of London and Britain which spread across the world. I’m passionate about preserving things from our good industrials days.

“I’ve driven the bus on private land and in the depot and it does feel strange. I’m now in the cab of the bus that I used to get kicked off the back seat of when I was at school.

“We all used the bus when it was in service so it means something to us. It was my school bus so it’s an everlasting memory of my childhood which will now be with me forever.”

The trio took it to the 2011 Peterborough Bus Rally and have even slept on it during a 56-hour stint at the ShowBus event at Imperial War Museum Duxford over last weekend.

They have already added a destination glass and painted the bus and hope to have it “back to its best” in time for what would have been Morley’s 90th anniversary next year.

Stephen and Nathan are learning to drive and both hope to be able to drive their Morley’s double-decker once they pass their test.