An inaugural double-decker bus honouring the sacrifice of British servicemen has taken its first trip around Colchester.

Named the Poppy Bus, the new initiative embarked upon its first outing on Friday as it took war veterans, Colchester mayor Robert Davidson and a First World War re-enactment actor on a tour of the town.

Launched by First Essex, the Poppy Bus then drove past Montgomery Infants School in Colchester, which cares for a number of children of service personnel. Schoolchildren with poppies waved to the war veterans and serving personnel on the bus.

Informing the VIPs on the bus about the lives of soldiers in the Great War was re-enactment actor Jim Williams, who himself who served in the armed forces throughout the 1980s.

Mr Williams was dressed in army uniform including a bayonet, shrapnel helmet and decommissioned rifle, all of which would have been worn and used by soldiers in 1917.

The Poppy Bus is not a one-off for the month of November, however.

The marketing manager at First Essex Buses Sheena Karim explained the introduction of the bus – the first of its kind in the UK – was to be a long-lasting tribute to army personnel past and present.

She said: “Every year we do poppy vinyls on the front of all our buses, but this year we wanted to make a bigger tribute with something that’s long-lasting and not just for the month of November.

“We’ve got a lot of ex-serving personnel within First, so we thought it would be a really fitting tribute.

“It’s going to go into service after the tour and the people of Colchester will be able to travel on it.

“The bus has been used for all sorts of school visits, educational purposes, as well as being a normal service bus.”

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Colchester mayor Robert Davidson – who was a VIP on the tour – voiced his support for the initiative.

He said: “The idea of having a permanent reminder going around Colchester all the time, just reminding all our residents that the armed forces are so essential – I think that’s wonderful.

“And, of course, so many former members of the armed forces decide to remain in Colchester – they meet their compatriots and colleagues all the time, and we saw on the bus people who served in the 1950s are still so active in the Royal British Legion.”

On his last official day serving in uniform was Captain Dennis Tranham, who has been serving in the army for 44 years.

Captain Tranham thanked First for coming up with the idea and putting it into practise.

He said: “I’d like to thank First for their initiative – it’s a brilliant idea and earlier on in the week they engaged with the schoolchildren who went on board to do some colouring activities and sit in the driver’s seat.

“I joined as a boy soldier in 1978 and I’ve been in the Falklands War and all over the world – but I joined from Colchester, I’m a Colchester boy and I intend to settle here.”