Dozens of people braved the inclement weather on Saturday to help us celebrate the first anniversary of the launch of the popular calverton connection service.

In its first year of operation, the service attracted more than three quarters of a million passengers and the milestone was marked with a special birthday party at the Cherry Tree in Collyer Road, Calverton.

Daren Gough, Brand Manager for calverton connection, explained that the event offered customers the chance to join in the firm's celebrations.

"On the day we cut into a special birthday cake, and staff were on hand to give away plenty of free gifts, including complimentary travel tickets," he said.

"There was an appearance by our colourful MANGO Man to promote the convenient MANGO travel card, and we also staged a balloon race with a year's free travel going to the winner."

pictured here L-R are MANGO man, local driver Trina Wallace, Brand Manager Daren Gough, and calverton connection team leader Neil Saunders, celebrating with youngsters at the event

The launch of the service, which connects Calverton and Arnold with Nottingham city centre, was the result of a £1 million investment that saw the introduction of six new luxury buses boasting leather seats, air conditioning and the latest environmentally-friendly engines.

"The service runs every 15 minutes during the day, making it a comfortable, convenient and inexpensive way to travel to and from the city centre and with more than three quarters of a million passenger journeys to date, it is certainly proving popular," added Daren.