County Council, together with a number of bus user groups in the area and the employees' trade unions, had supported the takeover, as it was felt that Citybus could not have continued to trade in the long term. However, the decision by the MMC was over-ruled by Nicholas Ridley, then the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and credited as the architect of bus deregulation. Transit Holdings and FirstGroup (1991–present) On 20 January 1991, Stagecoach's operations in Portsmouth were sold to Transit Holdings, a group formed from the privatisation of Devon General. The company's lease on the depot in Eastney expired in May, so the former Southdown depot at Hilsea West was reopened and used by Transit Holdings. Stagecoach retained a small number of services into the city which had been operated by Southdown prior to 1989, but others, including the route to Fareham, transferred to the new operation. Under Transit Holdings ownership, bus operation in Portsmouth was completely remodelled. The Red Admiral name was revived as a trading name for services running to areas outside the city boundary, while Blue Admiral was introduced for routes entirely within the city. The entire fleet was replaced with minibuses, initially Ford Transits and later Iveco Daily vehicles for Blue Admiral and Mercedes-Benz 811D vehicles for Red Admiral services. Service frequencies rose to retain capacity, and Transit Holdings claimed that ridership had risen dramatically. However, some groups criticised the use of minibuses as having poor accessibility and giving uncomfortable ride quality. Transit Holdings began to contract in the mid-1990s, and in April 1996 the Portsmouth operation was sold to FirstGroup. A month later it was merged with People's Provincial, which First also owned, and a new livery of red and cream was introduced to the enlarged company. Larger vehicles were restored to replace minibuses on most routes. In 2003 Provincial was further merged with Southampton Citybus and the eastern part of Southern National, both earlier acquired by First, to form First Hampshire & Dorset, officially based at the former Southampton Citybus depot in Portswood. In December 2006 First Hampshire & Dorset was fined by the Traffic Commissioner for poor punctuality on its services in Portsmouth. The company stated that it had rerouted some services through the city to improve their performance. The provision of evening services in the city has been criticised by some local groups. In May 2011, some contracted journeys