Brighton, Hove and District Omnibus Company

The roots of the Brighton, Hove and District Omnibus Company can be traced back to the 12th September 1884, when the Brighton, Hove and Preston United Omnibus Company was formed to amalgamate the interests of the major horse bus operators in Brighton.

Although several attempts were made at co-ordinating services within the Brighton area, nothing came to fruition and eventually, on the 26th November 1935; the Brighton, Hove & District Omnibus Company was incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Thomas Tilling Ltd. In July 1937, Brighton Council and the Company finally reached an agreement on co-ordination, which provided for the pooling of receipts and running expenses in the ratio of 72½% to the Company and 27½% to the Corporation. The agreement was confirmed by Act of Parliament in 1938.

With the onset of World War II, Brighton became a restricted area because of the fear of invasion and much of the BH&D fleet became surplus to requirements and was loaned out to other Tilling group companies. When the war ended a number of new routes were opened to keep pace with the construction of new housing estates on the outskirts of Brighton. A meeting of the town council on the 28th July 1956 decided in favour of abandoning the town's trolleybus system, but a final date was not agreed. On the 24th March 1959, the trolleybus routes in the eastern part of Brighton ceased operations and the BH&D trolleybuses were withdrawn.

In 1962, the Brighton, Hove & District Company became a part of the Transport Holding Company, which had been formed to try to re-organise the nationalised bus companies. BH&D had been a nationalised bus company since the Tilling group had sold their interests to the British Transport Commission in 1948. With the formation of the National Bus Company on the 1st January 1969, Brighton, Hove & District was merged with its larger brother, combining operations in the Brighton area and the company became dormant, bringing to an end almost 35 years of the Brighton, Hove and District Omnibus Company.