NOBODY wants to wait for a bus in temperatures of minus 30C.But that could be the fate for passengers of an Ipswich bus now working in foreign climes.

NOBODY wants to wait for a bus in temperatures of minus 30C.

But that could be the fate for passengers of an Ipswich bus now working in foreign climes.

Ipswich ex-pat Gordon Welham exported the number 15 Stoke Park service right into the middle of a Canadian winter and temperatures way below zero.

And its first journey was a 1,300 mile trip across Canada after sailing from Liverpool.

Now it makes rather smaller trips around the town centre and Royal Botanical Gardens of Burlington, Ontario.

Mr Welham and his wife Wendy, originally from Saxmundham, also hire out the bus for weddings and parties.

But its green a cream 1970s Ipswich paint job have confused Canadians used to see the red London bus.

Mr Welham said: "Because of the colour people kept on saying 'that's not a proper London bus,' so we came up with the name London & Suffolk Double Decker Bus Company.

"It still has its original full destination blind and we often show an Ipswich route on the front."

Apart from worries over the colour, the only other serious work needed was to put the door on the other side because Canada drives on the right.

Mr Welham grew up in Ipswich and went to school at Priory Heath, now Holywells, before emigrating in 1975.

Ipswich Buses managing director Malcolm Robson revealed the bus enthusiast had been in touch regularly over the years.

And he said ex-Ipswich buses can be picked up for as little as £1,000, despite usually being in excellent condition.

Mr Robson said: "We are delighted people are enjoying an old Ipswich Bus in an interesting part of the world.

"We are delighted an old bus has found an old home and a very useful home."

Other ex-pat Ipswich buses are plying a new trade in Africa and Central Europe, according to Mr Robson's records.

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www.ipswichbuses.co.uk

Hamilton, Ontario facts:

The coldest day on record was January 25 1884 at – 30.6 and the hottest day was July 14, 1868 at 41.4 C

Hamilton is the fourth largest city in Ontario and the ninth in Canada. It is the largest Hamilton in the world.

It has a population of 490,270.

The city of Hamilton was so far in debt in the 1860's that the sheriff seized city property. Many items at city hall, including the mayor's chair, went under the auction hammer.

There are 31 other Hamilton's around the world, not to mention other communities with Hamilton as part of the name such as Hamilton City or Hamilton Crossroads.

It's oldest original building still standing is also one of its most famous. Dundurn Castle was built in the mid-1830's.

Double Decker Bus Facts:

Disused double decker buses across the world are used as coffee bars, learning centres and mobile homes.

In November last year The Evening Star featured self-employed builder Paul Hallett, 34, who lives in a double decker bus in Felixstowe.