Stagecoach order for Falkirk coach firm

Image caption, Stagecoach runs numerous bus routes across the UK

Transport group Stagecoach has said it has ordered about 340 new buses and coaches worth 拢50m.

More than 200 of the vehicles will be from Falkirk-based coach maker Alexander Dennis.

They will go into operation on Stagecoach's provincial bus routes across the UK.

In June, the Perth-based Stagecoach reported a decline in pre-tax profits after what it described as a "difficult year".

The group made 拢161.3m in the 12 months to the end of April, down from 拢196.4m a year earlier.

But the Perth-based bus and rail operator said it was seeing signs of economic recovery in the UK and North America.

As well as a network of local bus routes, Stagecoach' s UK businesses includes Megabus and the South West Trains and East Midlands Trains rail franchises.