THE journey is not over for one historic Oxford bus left to rot in a field in America as it faces a four-year restoration from local volunteers.

Despite travelling nearly 5,000 miles from the USA to the Oxfordshire Bus Museum in Long Hanborough, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done before the iconic vehicle can take to the streets again, say museum volunteers.

The double-decker has not been seen in the county since the 1980s and was used in Oxford for 12 years in the 1950s.

It was later acquired by the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment in Aldermaston, where it was used for staff transport.

The bus was then taken to the United States of America, to be used as a tourist attraction at Long Beach in California. It was painted red so it looked like a typical London bus, although the destination board proved nonsensical.

At the end of 2015 it finally made its way home to the county, and work is due to begin on bringing it back to its former glory.

Museum volunteer Roger Battley said: “The bus came back in a very sad condition. It needs lots of work.

“It’s had a hard life. We’re not sure how it found its way to the USA but then it was used as a tourist bus. It was painted and made to look like a London bus. But they didn’t get it quite right.

“Then it just got put to one side and left in a field.

“It’s also had a bit of a rough ride coming over here.”

Between 1948 and 1953 the City of Oxford Motor Services placed into service about 80 broadly similar Weymann-bodied AEC Regents, which were used on both city and county routes.

Mr Battley said: “The chances were that if you saw an Oxford double-decker in the 1950s, it would be one of these. The body combination could therefore, without doubt, be described as iconic.”

At the end of last year the bus travelled from Mayville, New York, to West Oxfordshire, covering 4,750 miles.

Mr Battley said the museum was also looking after another bus of this type, and wanted to restore both of them so they could be used during Oxford Open Doors weekends.

But he added the project could take up to four years.

He said: “It would be lovely to have these two going around together. We want to restore them both at the same time, that could be easier to do than doing one or another.

“We’ve had lots of enthusiasm for this project, from a lot of people.”

The bus can be viewed when the museum is open, on Wednesdays and Sundays each week.