The Hartlepool Corporation began serving the two boroughs of Hartlepool and West Hartlepool in 1952. The Corporation’s licence required them to provide half the buses needed to operate the service between the two towns. This presented a problem, since the Corporation did not own any buses!
An agreement was reached with Bee Line Roadways, a local coach operator which ran the service on the Corporation’s behalf and garaged their fleet from August 1953. By 1956 this fleet was ageing and was replaced by four AEC Regent Vs as seen here. The Hartlepool Corporation’s fourteen year existence was brought to an end in 1967 when the bus fleets of the two boroughs were merged.