JHA 227L was new to Midland Red Omnibus in 1973. The bus was based at Shresbury Depot where she remained till 1987. The bus was loaned out to Wellington depot on a couple of occasions.

227 has had a quiet life. But till recently, owner, J Sergeant was informed that 227 had 2 major accidents. 1 of the accidents damaged all of the front of the bus, where the second damaged the rear. Other wise not much to report on.

227 was brought out of service in 1987, and was brought for preservation by J Sergeant. The bus was used for a couple of rallies before taken off the road for restoration shortly after.

Restoration towards this vehicle has been slow due to J Sergeant has sent a large amount of his time (during 1994-2004) helping to restore ex-TBG coach, WWY 115G.

J Sergeant had hoped to have 227 roadworthy for the Midland Red Celebrations at BaMMOT, Wythall in October 2004, however the vehicle was still unrestored.

In 2005, JHA 227L was sent to Holyoakes, Telford for work on the rear end and few other bodywork tasks. As the bus was not an top priority, and problems that occured with 227, the bus returned to Shrewsbury in mid 2007.

While at Shrewsbury, a little minor restoration work had been made, however due to Health Reasons, J Sergeant found it difficult to work on the bus.

Sadly, in September 2008, J Sergeant decided to sell JHA 227L for further restoration.

After several interested people, J Sergeant sold the bus to preservationist, P Emery, who had the bus collected by S Riley and D Howdle on 17th September 2008.

The following week, work commenced on repainting JHA 227L. The paint was aquired using a colour match from a spare Water cap, and S Riley applied the red paint to 227 on the 27th and 28th September 2009

As the interior had 20 years worth of dust in the exterior, D Howdle assisted in cleaning the interior. This involved extensive hoovering, cleaning of the luggage racks and walls, cleaning of the leather seats, and other activities.

S Riley and D Howdle hoped to have JHA 227L ready for the Midland Red event at Wythall on ___, however as the repainting and cleaning took longer than expected, it was decided that we would make it's debut rally at Aston Manor Transport Museum on 19th October 2009.

During the beginning of 2009, no further restoration tasks were undertaken on 227 due to the restoration of recently acquired ex-Mercian Midland Red Leyland Olympian, EEH 902Y.
It was arranged for JHA 227L to attend the Chasewater Vehicle Rally on the 14th June 2009. However, upon arrival of collecting 227 at it's storage facility on the 13th June, it was discovered that the batteries were stolen. With assistance from Wag and S Riley, 227 was made mobile again and was able to attend Chasewater as planned.

If you wish further information about this vehicle, e-mail telfordbusgroup@yahoo.co.uk