A former London Routemaster bus, which has been luxuriously restored by Bentley Motors, has been handed over to the hospice St Luke's.

St Luke's, who are based in Winsford, Cheshire, secured the double-decker bus earlier this year and appealed to the luxury car manufacturer Bentley for help in its restoration. Bentley Motors has supported the hospice for the past three years, most recently in April when it helped renovate one of the hospice's charity shops and rejuvenated the hospice garden during a production shutdown at its Crewe factory.

This latest project has taken 2000 hours to complete with 59 Bentley workers involved The team has sought to retain many of the original features of the bus but adapt it to the needs of St Luke's in a typical Bentley way.

This has meant using the leather for which Bentley cars are synonymous throughout, all hand stitched with the St Luke's and Bentley logos. Other skilled craftsmen from Bentley's woodshop, toolroom and maintenance departments developed bespoke work surfaces, rails, kitchen unit and shelves to help St Luke's staff in their public awareness and fundraising activities.

The Bentley production manager in charge of the project, Gary Lazenby, said:"This has been a real labour of love for all those involved. Bentley staff are incredibly proud of the cars we produce but applying those skills to a bus was a totally new experience for all. We are very grateful to the many local suppliers who provided materials free of charge to help make this iconic vehicle fit for a new lease of life."

St Luke's corporate fundraiser Karen Burns said: "Bentley's support has been invaluable to us over the past three years and we are astounded by our new community bus.

This is a world-first, a community charity bus finished to Bentley standard, with plush leather interiors and Bentley wings on show to promote our relationship with the organisation."