Reading Buses has taken on the Optare Metrodecker demonstrator vehicle for a one month trial.

The current UK Bus Operator of the Year has invested heavily in more than 100 new fully-accessible, ultra-low emission buses for their Premier Routes since 2003.

Chief executive officer Martijn Gilbert said: 'We have a have a number of double deck routes and we will be putting the new Optare double deck through its paces.

'The orange Metrodecker certainly won't look out of place among our brightly coloured fleet and we are sure that our customers will be as excited about trying out this new vehicle as we are.'

Optare commercial director Robert Drewery said: 'I am delighted that the Metrodecker is entering service with such a respected and innovative operator, we will be monitoring its performance closely and we look forward to the feedback from Reading Buses and their passengers.'

The Metrodecker has a fully integral frame, low floor, is light weight credentials and offers excellent seating capacity for its size. Optare says it has already demonstrated highly competitive fuel economy in recent independent fuel trials.