Former Western Welsh FKG977, a 1951 Leyland PD2/1 with Leyland L27/26RD body, is seen here on hire to Southend Corporation Transport who needed some 7 foot 6 inch wide buses to operate under Hockley Station bridge while the roadway was being lowered, half of the road at a time, in early 1970 in preparation for the arrival of Southend's first Fleetlines the following year - two were hired, FKG977 seen here, and similar vehicle FKG979.
Behind is one of SCT Bridgemasters, either 317 or 318.
There's a picture of FKG977 here showing it passing through the roadworks under the bridge with only inches to spare.

Southend had a history of lowering the roadway under bridges so that new buses would fit under them, such as the High Street bridge in 1965 - click here for a picture.

However the Pier Bridge was beyond hope - click here for a picture - and stayed restricted to open toppers and genuine lowbridge buses.

Photo from the late Peter Snell's collection, courtesy of Chris Stewart, taken March/April 1970, Ashingdon Schools

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