Stagecoach and the little Bulley

There is a lot I admire about Stagecoach with it's good modern clean fleet, strong sense of identity confident businesslike approach and it's respect for enthusiasts and heritage. It does have a down side however and that is it is very predatory and sees this as it's right but woe-betide anyone foolish enough who tries to tread on it's toes. The West Country has always been a bit of a flash-point with Stagecoach and First Bus trying to win points as they squabble over the very limited areas where there really are rich picking like those at the seasonally bustling Torbay. But it's is ill-advised for the little operator to have a go as they are bound to come off the loser but as if already crying "Wolf!" before they even started Bulleys did try in the Late-Nineties. They decided to take on the Perth based giant running lucrative open-toppers along the seafront between Torquay and Paignton but Stagecoach was having none of it. As can be seen from this view of an always rare and in this case smartly turned out Massey bodied Leyland Atlantean that once belonged to Colchester, there is a long queue of traffic stuck behind the stationary bus because each time one of their open-toppers departed a spare Stagecoach minibus took the stand forcing the enemy to just drive on! It seemed the police kept out of it on the street at least, but I feel it would not have done any harm for a warden to impartially move on those blocking buses that weren't actually doing anything as these are bus stops for departures. On the other hand if they did move them on Stagecoach could threaten to pull out of Torquay altogether letting First in, but I very much doubt it as the council might just call their bluff.