WORCESTER based coach company, Elgar Coaches joined hundreds of other coach drivers honking their way around London in a bid to draw attention to the crisis facing the industry due to coronavirus.

The Honk For Hope protest yesterday saw around 500 coaches from across the country make their way to central London in convoy.

Family run coach company, Elgar Coaches have been in the city for 35 years. They travelled down to London to join the convoy as they feel they have been forgotten.

Mark Harper of Elgar Coaches said: "We as an industry have been ignored throughout this crisis. The government have turned their backs on us.

"We rely on our summer trade to see us through the year and that has been non-existent. Our vehicles have been SORNED since March. We know this can't be helped, but we have seen bus companies, railways and airlines all get support from the government when we feel we have been left high and dry.

"We attended the protest yesterday, because this business is our life. I have been driving coaches since 1989. We were saddened to see we were the only company from Worcester joining the convoy. We need to stick together during these difficult times. We are not looking for a hand out - all we want is for the furlough scheme to be extended so we don't have to lose members of staff."

Coach businesses across the country have said they feel let down by the response of the Government during the coronavirus pandemic, with some claiming they face bankruptcy.

At a time when companies would normally be fully booked with summer tours, many are sitting empty, with staff still on furlough.

With the demand for coach trips falling, many drivers are also struggling to make finance repayments on their vehicles, which can often cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The protesters are asking the Government for a package of support measures, including financial help to meet these payments and an extension of the furlough scheme for the industry.

The organiser of the protest, Jenna Rush, from North East Coach Travel, told the PA news agency: "We know that we will not move again until next year, and we cannot meet our finance payments for the rest of the year without some form of government support.

"I have got a coach now where I still owe £160,000 finance, but because of Covid-19 the coach has depreciated to around £100,000.

"So if that loan company does not give me any help, and I can't pay, they will repossess and take it away.

"But there will still be a shortfall of £60,000.

"Because I have a personal guarantee, they'll then come to me and possibly take my home.

"Every operator is in the position, it's not just the risk of losing the business, it's the risk of losing everything."