A group of lucky competition winners from South Yorkshire have won a prize with a difference…

The chance to appear on the back of a brand new fleet of buses!

To celebrate Stagecoach Yorkshire’s new-look network for its Dearne Valley services, the images of eight local people will now take pride of place on the 13 new vehicles and 7 nearly new buses across the Rotherham. In addition to becoming the faces of the Dearne Valley, each competition winner also gets free travel for a year with Stagecoach Yorkshire.

The fleet, costing almost £1.5m and featuring the eye-catching livery, are bringing an ultra-modern look to the area’s services.

One of the winners, who entered the competition on local radio, is Andrea Nicholls from Tickhill in Doncaster. Said Andrea: I am delighted to win - it is definitely a prize with a difference! It is fun to think that I will be appearing on the back of the buses. My friends and family weren’t surprised when I told them because I am always up to something! I am looking forward to spotting myself around the Dearne Valley.

I am a regular bus user in the area already but winning the free pass will be brilliant because it means I can get about a lot more and go into Sheffield or visit different areas.

Paul Lynch, Stagecoach Yorkshire’s managing director, said: The competition has been a great way to reward our loyal customers and to get them involved in the bus services we provide across the Dearne Valley. We are absolutely delighted as we received such a high interest in the competition and we are really looking forward to seeing the photos on the new buses.

The Dearne Valley is a key area for us in terms of moving people between the important towns of Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster and we feel we have an obligation to make this as pleasant an experience as possible – the timetable and route changes, introduced earlier this year, our new buses and exciting livery help to achieve just that.