Badger Vectis Badger Vectis Badger Vectis was an English bus company based in Poole. A post-deregulation joint venture between Weston-super-Mare based bus company Badgerline and Isle of Wight bus company Southern Vectis, it was set up in September 1987 to compete with incumbent operator Wilts & Dorset. The buses all used the Badgerline brand. After a noted bus war between the two large companies, Badger Vectis folded in March 1988. Badger Vectis was formed in September 1987 as an joint venture between Badgerline (80%) and Southern Vectis (20%), after both recently privatised bus companies had failed in a joint bid earlier in
Badger Vectis would stop operating in early May 1988. The company closed early however, on 29 March, after employees were told that the company would no longer be operating and were offered a deal not to speak to the press. The traffic commissioner then banned the Badger Vectis company from registering bus services ever again. The bus war between Badger Vectis and Wilts & Dorset was described as a rare instance of post-deregulation competition between a large newcomer against an established operator, with the intention of complete elimination of the incumbent. This was in contrast to the norm which had been, and