When Clive Norman first began working on the buses in Gloucester in 1961, John F. Kennedy had just been elected president of the United States, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space and the average price of a house in Gloucester was about £2,000.

Now after an extraordinary 57-year career in the bus service, Clive has bid a fond farewell to his grateful colleagues at Stagecoach West to take a well-earned retirement.

Clive, aged 76, started on the buses as a conductor and then became an award-winning driver before moving to the wages department and then joining the bus schedules team where he has remained.

As commercial schedules manager Clive has helped Stagecoach West maintain a leading position for bus schedules efficiency within the Stagecoach Group.

At a special retirement presentation Clive was presented with farewell gifts from his colleagues. The managing director of Stagecoach West, Rupert Cox said: “Clive has been instrumental in making sure our bus services are reliable and efficient.

“Anyone who dedicates 57 years of their life to work for a company is truly valued and we appreciate everything that Clive has done.

“We will all miss him and we wish him a long, healthy and enjoyable retirement.”

Rachel Geliamassi, Operations Director at Stagecoach West, said: “Clive is so amazing that we have had to have a bespoke long service badge made him – they don’t normally have one for the length of service he has completed.

“We are going to really miss him. He has set the bar so high for his colleagues at Stagecoach West.”