the sub-depot at Biggar (which closed in 1986), was renamed Eastern Scottish Omnibuses Ltd. Eastern Scottish retained the traditional green and cream livery for its fleet. Upon deregulation, Eastern Scottish faced little to no competition outside Edinburgh, despite a highly urbanised operating area. Within Edinburgh, Eastern found itself sparring with the larger, dominant city operator, Lothian Regional Transport (LRT), for a larger share of the city traffic. In late 1986 Eastern introduced nine new routes within Edinburgh, some of which closely mirrored sections of existing LRT routes. These were numbered C1-C9, the minibuses carried the "City Sprinter" fleet branding. At the start of deregulation in October 1986, route C5 ran a 5 minute frequency between Clovenstone and Restalrig via the city centre, operating a hail and ride on some parts of the route. Some routes were operated by a fleet of 70 Dodge minibuses, whilst others used double deck buses, notably 25 secondhand ex-South Yorkshire Transport Volvo Ailsa B55s with Irish-built Van Hool-McArdle bodywork. Some of these routes only lasted for a short period. LRT retaliated by extending services beyond the city boundary and deeper into Eastern's operating area. Together with the loyalty of the passengers to the familiar "madder" coloured fleet of the "corporation" (as LRT was still sometimes known), LRT's competitive tactics ensured that Eastern made no significant inroads to the city market. Despite competition between the two operators, bitter "bus wars" that broke out in other cities and towns across Scotland were largely avoided, and Eastern did not persevere with loss-making operations, but settled for economy by reducing use of St. Andrew's Bus Station by running through Edinburgh city centre to destinations such as Charlotte Square, Haymarket, Clermiston and Silverknowes, and connecting traditional routes such as ones to Balerno and Wallyford end-to end to create new cross-city links which in some cases competed with those of LRT. Privatisation Eastern Scottish was one of the most financially successful subsidiaries of the Scottish Bus Group, with an operating profit of £1.07m in 1989. This was due in large part to initiatives such as the City Sprinter minibus scheme, which had quickly expanded into a considerable network of high-frequency routes. In September 1990 the company was sold to its management and employees for £9.5m, making it the most expensive subsidiary in the sell-off. The company began trading as SMT once again, with a modern, stylised take on the traditional diamond