It was standing room only as the last Routemaster bus wove through the streets of London today on the 159 route from Marble Arch to Brixton Garage.

Thousands of people, including many waving Union Flags, jammed the streets to watch the iconic red double-decker end regular services in the capital after nearly 50 years.

The biggest crowd was in Oxford Street where, for safety reasons, the bus had to pull away without being full, even though people had waited more than two hours to board. But at stops along the route small crowds gathered in the forlorn hope of hopping on the final Routemaster service.

The conductor on the final service was 61-year-old Lloyd Licorish, originally from Barbados. Mr Licorish was kept busy selling tickets - although mostly as souvenirs since most on board already had bus passes. At the wheel was Jamaican-born Winston Briscoe, 62, who had his daughter, Natasha, and two grandchildren sitting behind him.

Routemaster fans lined the streets along Oxford Street and Regent Street, around Trafalgar Square, down Whitehall, past Big Ben and over Westminster Bridge and past the London Eye. A drinker at a pub raised his glass to the bus, a taxi driver on Westminster Bridge gave a thumbs-up sign, and a man with a wreath proclaimed "RIP Routemaster".

But there was no sign of Ken Livingstone, the London Mayor who declared only four years ago that "only some ghastly, dehumanised moron would want to get rid of the Routemaster" - only to change his mind after winning re-election.

The Routemaster has been phased out on regular services because Mr Livingstone and his transport chiefs say that an estimated 10 per cent of Londoners cannot use it because of disabilities - even though opinion polls show that a large majority of Londoners are against the move.

About 20 Routemasters will be kept in service as tourist or "heritage" buses on parts of routes 9 and 15.

Amongst the passengers on today's final run was Mike Hurley, 56, from Leeds, who had been on the last trolley bus which ran in 1962. He said: "It’s a tragedy the Routemaster is ceasing regular services."

While disabled people held placards along the route welcoming the end of the Routemasters, others held up signs indicating that 81 per cent of Londoners supported the bus.

Bert Massie, chairman of the Disability Rights Commission said: "I am delighted to see the Routemaster go. Having buses that everyone can get on has transformed the lives of many Londoners."

Mr Briscoe finally brought the bus into Brixton garage 40 minutes late, but for once nobody was complaining.

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