Managing director Peter Iddon promised this week that some of the new vehicles the company is buying will be heading this way; and he has pledged to take trips on the buses himself to get a first-hand look at the service.

"There has never been investment on this scale by the company before and these are not just proposals. They have already started to happen," he said.

The plan is to replace all of the Excel coaches – those which operate on routes linking the main towns in the region – with new ones and also to renew some of the local buses. The new vehicles will have better access, especially for disabled passengers, they will be more modern, more comfortable and some will have CCTV installed.

Mr Iddon said that the company is also spending more money on re-paints for existing coaches. "This is a process that used to be rather hit- and-miss but now we have a rolling programme which will make them all look more cared for and smarter," he said.

Other improvements in the pipeline include more shelters at bus stops and investment at Lynn bus station, which will introduce a ticket vending machine to save time collecting fares on board the buses.

Mr Iddon became managing director of the company about a year ago. First Eastern covers a total of 66 routes, employs around 900 people, including about 800 drivers, has a fleet of more than 300 buses and is responsible for two million passenger journeys every month.

He explained that the most pressing issue when he first took over was to settle industrial relations issues which were having an impact on the service. "The position was very entrenched at the time but early last summer we finally reached agreement and this created a platform to enable us to move forward.

"On that basis we then turned to reviewing how we do things and I have been encouraging feedback from customers and, effectively, 'saying sorry' for any problems of the past.

"Operating on such a large scale we will always get one or two complaints but I feel that the vast majority of my staff do a very good job under the circumstances."

Mr Iddon hopes that by going out on the buses he will be able to talk to his drivers and to customers and get the feedback to assess what else is needed to improve the service.

"This is something we can do at little cost and while we could easily sit here and come up with ideas and suggestions it is better that we go out there and talk to the people that know what will and will not work." The company has already used passengers to provide it with the feedback it needs and is currently looking for more "mystery shoppers" to become its eyes and ears, in return for a free travel pass over a period 0of time.

Anyone interested can get further information from the customer call centre on 08456 020121.