As part of an ongoing fleet management plan, Shropshire County Council selected Mellor in 2013 to fulfil their coachbuilt requirements and to replace a selection of their Iveco and Irisbus vehicles.

The order for twenty-one vehicles consists of 10 x Low Floor 16 seat Fiats, 5 x Low Floor 14 seats Fiats, 1x Fiat Low Floor with 7 seats, 2x Fiat specialist accessible vehicles, 1x Peugeot Mess Van, 1x Vario 22 seat accessible bus and a 7.5 ton DAF Library vehicle. The order is the latest in a long relationship between Shropshire CC and Mellor.

Shropshire County Council provide transport for children and adults with learning difficulties, taking them to and from school, day centres and many other recreational and learning trips across the entire county.

Andy Maiden, Fleet Manager at Shropshire County Council said,

‘We were so impressed with the versatility of the Fiat Low Floor demonstrator vehicle delivered by Mellor in January that we made the decision to replace some of the fleet throughout the year. For some time we have wanted to avoid using traditional Tail lifts on higher floor vehicles and these Fiats have fulfilled that nicely’

`Given the large geographical nature of Shropshire it is paramount that we ensure that reliability and after sales back up is the best that we can get. All of Shropshire’s vehicles focus heavily on reliability, safety and access. The passengers comfort is also of high importance to us as some of the journeys undertaken on a twice daily basis are lengthy. The interior trim and the specification that these and previous vehicles offer is also reflected in improved residual values at the end of the fleet life. Shropshire favours a rear loading ramp over a tail lift for the added dignity it gives its passengers.’

Other features include CCTV and reversing cameras for on board safety and efficiency, white LED strips lights recessed into the door aperture at the rear of the vehicle in place of a load lamp to ensure the ramp and the rear of the is well illuminated. And the rear doors are fitted with red LED markers on the door edges to ensure that vehicles approaching from the rear are aware that doors are open.