English: West Midlands PTE bus 4775 (reg JOV 775P), a 1976 Volvo Ailsa B55 double-decker with Alexander AV bodywork, pictured in Birmingham operating route 107 to Sutton Coldfield via New Oscott. Also in view are branches of the burger chain Wimpy and jewellers Ratners.

This was one of the batch of 50 such vehicles bought by WMPTE. They had taken delivery of the first 3 production examples, numbered 4527 to 4529 (TOE 527-529N), built in late 1974. The 50 strong batch followed shortly after, being built between January and May 1976 in one continuous batch, numbered by WMPTE as fleet no.s 4738 to 4787 (JOV 738-787P). (The batch was not numbered according to their production order - 4759 was the first of the batch by chassis number - no. 75072, which designated it as the 72nd production B55 of 1975).

In 1987 the entire batch of 50 were purchased by London Buses Ltd for service in London, being numbered in their V-class series, from V16 to V65 (LBL had purchased V1-3 new in 1984, and V4-15 second hand from South Yorkshire PTE also in 1987).

4775 was allocated the number V25, entering service with the London Northern post-deregulation London Buses division out of Potters Bar garage (code PB).

With the exception of the newer V1-3, the V-class didn't last long (as tender requirements began to trend to specifying new buses), going on to pastures new after just 2 or 3 years service in London.

4775/V25 was stored in Potters Bar from October 1990. In January 1991 it was sold to a dealer and operated for brief periods with the Yorkshire based operators Four Seasons and White Rose, in 1993 it ended up with Black Prince of Morley, West Yorkshire, who had built up a significant fleet of second hand Ailsa's, painting them all in unique variations of its red and yellow livery.

Having definitely seen service with at least Four Seasons, operating in their cream and brown livery, V25 doesn't appear to have entered into service with Black Prince however; having been cannibalised to the point of having its whole roof donated to V46, it was sold for scrap by 1996.