Whilst the Crosville operations in Wales and the North West ended in 1990s there was a resurrection of bus and coach operations under the Crosville banner for a period of some 7 years in the area of Weston-super-Mare. This page briefly describes the story.

Following the demise of Crosville a number of vehicles that had once been part of the fleet were preserved by various enthusiasts.  Some of these were simply kept for showing at various rallies and road runs but some were actually used in operational work such as weddings, private hire, T.V. and film shoots and also as Passenger Service Vehicles on commercial heritage routes.

A businessman from the Weston-Super-Mare area of the South West of England, Jonathan Jones-Pratt not only used former Crosville vehicles in such ways but ran them under the ‘Crosville’ name.  

His first former Crosville vehicle so used was KG118 (KFM767) a Bristol L5G / ECW (B35R) which had been new in March 1950.

He obtained an Operating Licence for one vehicle in 2011 although later that year the licence was increased to 5 vehicles.    A number of other preserved vehicles were added to the fleet that had been part of such companies as Southern Vectis, Bristol Omnibus Company, Hants and Dorset and London Transport.

The expansion of the business was rapid and in January 2012 a company was formed using the former name of the original company – Crosville Motor Services Limited. The Operators Licence for this company was initially 20 vehicles but this increased later.

In April 2012 the new Crosville company registered a number of commercial bus routes including Weston-super-Mare to Sand Bay, West Wick and Burnham-on-Sea and a sea front service from the Grand Pier to Uphill. In the following year of 2014 further services were added.

To undertake the new services a fleet of second hand buses and coaches were acquired. Initially a number of these were given the cherished registered numbers including 'CMS' e.g. Y23CMS, F17CMS.  However this practice did not last long

By June 2015 the fleet had increased to 40 vehicles on the licence. Further services were undertaken when the company began operating contracted service for North Somerset which took the buses of the company to Bristol and part of South Gloucestershire.

In addition to the buses operated the company also had other types of interesting vehicles. A Sentinel Steam bus, GT 2827, was acquired in 2015. It was new in 1931 as a dropside lorry and later a tar sprayer. It was rescued for preservation and converted to a passenger carrying vehicle and for a number of years saw use in Whitby, North Yorkshire before arriving in Weston-super-Mare. 

Crosville also operated two Land-trains (W675/6 PHW) which operated from 2014 along the promenade in Weston-super-Mare from Knightstone Island to the Tropicana.

In addition to the large fleet of more modern vehicles the heritage fleet was expanded and in addition to the number of former Crosville vehicles there were many others from a number of operators of great interest to enthusiasts.

In 2017 the size of the fleet was reduced due to the Traffic Commissioner reducing the Operating Licence to 29 vehicles. 

Not long afterwards in February 2018 the company announced that they were giving notice that they would be ending their local bus and school transport services on Saturday, April 21. They also indicated that their last day of working would be by heritage vehicles and the proceeds for the day would be donated to charities.

Most of the fleet was dispersed but a number of vehicles from the heritage fleet stayed in Weston-Super-Mere owned by Jonathan Jones-Pratt. 

As an aside in 2016 a new company, Somerset Passenger Solutions began operation mainly to convey the workforce to the major construction of the Hinkley Point Power station. The company is a joint venture between First Group and JJP Holdings (South West). The fleet involves some 150 vehicles. This operation continues and the contract for the provision of the services is due to continue until 2025.