Education Bradford is spending £100,000 to revamp its school bus fleet to turn it into a commercial operation.

The privatised education service plans to hire out the buses during the day to schools and community groups.

At the moment the 100-strong fleet of specialist minibuses, which take children with special needs to and from school, are idle for the few hours in between. The investment has paid for a new Trapeze routing and scheduling computer system that will help leaders of the service keep track of the buses.

The 250 drivers, who are based at depots in Shearbridge in Bradford and Stockbridge in Keighley, are also being given new uniforms of shirts and ties.

The smart new look applies to all the employees of the West Yorkshire Transport Service, which is part of Education Bradford.

Its staff provide transportation for more than 1,000 special needs pupils per day. Now, the aim is to expand the use of the buses. New transport manager Geoff Binnington, a former army logistics expert, has been brought in to turn the former Bradford Council Education Contract Services into a thriving bus company.

Mr Binnington, 45, has 20 years' experience of logistics. He served for 22 years in the Royal Corps of Transport and Royal Logistics Corps in Germany, Cyprus, the Falklands, and Northern Ireland.

Afterwards he joined logistic company TDG before moving to Education Bradford in April.

"My aim is to support Education Bradford by establishing WYTS as the leading commercial provider of specialist minibus services," he said. "We will blend operational and commercial requirements with innovative and best practice solutions."

The buses involved are either white Transit style minibuses and red and cream larger-style modified minibuses.

The double decker fleet used for ordinary school journeys are operated by bus company First, and are not affected.