He is one of the best known faces in the West Midlands transport industry so its only fitting that Phil Bateman’s big birthday surprise was unveiled on the side of a bus.

To mark his 60th birthday colleagues at National Express unveiled a 22ft Happy Birthday bus advert before he was joined by new and old friends to celebrate the occasion.

The whole celebration was arranged yesterday as a surprise for Mr Bateman, a former Mayor of Wolverhampton who was awarded the MBE in 2004 for his services to public transport.

Staff told Mr Bateman who currently works as a consultant for National Express and is regional manager of the Confederation for Passenger Transport that he needed to go to the Birmingham Central Garage on Liverpool Street.

But when he got there instead he spotted the bus with the huge banner on.

Today, Mr Bateman, from Wednesfield in Wolverhampton who will be in Costa Rica on his actual birthday on March 14, said he couldn’t believe what people had arranged for him.

The banner read “happy birthday – now you can ride the bus for free!” and it was designed in secret by National Express before yesterday’s grand unveiling.

“I don’t think you can put into words the surprise I felt. I am so touched so many people could go to so much effort across so many organisations to pull all this together.

“Transport is a great profession, but it is more than that it is a passion, ” he added.