with Alexander bodywork proved popular with the Scottish Bus Group, with Midland Scottish taking on a total of 109 by 1986. Most of these would be transferred to Kelvin Scottish following the reorganisation of the SBG. The Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive bought five Metrobuses on evaluation in 1979. These were sold to London Buses in 1988, where they would become M1481-M1485; these would be the final Metrobuses to be acquired by London Transport before the privatisation of London Buses. Merseybus purchased 25 MkII Metrobuses in 1989 while also acquiring many second hand from privatised London operators. Fifteen Metrobuses, some with Alexander bodywork, were purchased new by the predecessor of Merseybus, Merseyside PTE. Other municipal bus operators who bought Metrobuses included Kingston upon Hull City Transport, Leicester City Transport, Newport Transport and Reading Transport. The Metrobus also found sales to National Bus Company subsidiaries Maidstone & District and Northern General, with the former ordering two pairs of MkI Metrobuses with MCW and Rolls-Royce engines as part of NBC comparative trials in 1980. Hong Kong Early introductions In Hong Kong, China Motor Bus (CMB) introduced 12 Metrobuses (MC1-MC12) in 1978 for its luxury coach services (which covered the routes between Repulse Bay, Stanley and the Central District). Within a year, MCW produced an 11-metre 2-axle version of Metrobus. Only 40 were produced for CMB in 1978/79, where they would be classified as MB1-MB40. They were used mostly on express and cross-harbour services. Both batches of CMB Metrobuses had MkI bodies. 1980s In 1981, MCW produced prototypes of 3-axle, 12-metre long "Super-Metrobuses". Two were purchased by CMB as ML1-ML2 and three by Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) as M1-M3, later renumbered 3M1-3M3. All were bodied with MCW MkII bodies. CMB purchased a further 82 (ML3-84) between 1983 and 1988, while KMB purchased 80 2-axle Metrobuses (M1-M80, with MkII bodies) between 1983 and 1985. While KMB was not interested in the 12-metre version Super-Metrobuses, they did express their interest in an 11-metre 3-axle version (the CMB 11-metre version Metrobuses were 2-axle) with 254 11-metre 3-axle Metrobuses (S3M1-254) purchased between 1986 and 1989. Fifty of these buses were fitted with Cummins engines, and another one (later numbered S3M145) was originally fitted with a prototype air-conditioner, but this proved unreliable and was subsequently removed. Between 1987 and 1989, Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) also purchased 59 2-axle Metrobuses for their feeder bus services. 39 of them