After withdrawal from service, in 1940 due to perceived war-time conditions, the batch of trolley buses 1 - 16 were stored at Sampson Road North for the duration of WW2. They were not used again and sold to dealers. They initially failed the tilt test and the destination box mechanics, among other items, were removed. A paper detaination reading NECHELLS was substituted. This was overcome by about 1937.
Newer trolley buses were ordered in 1934, 1937 and 1940 for the Coventry Road routes. But the writing was on the wall for trolley buses due the BCT having made large purchases, pre-war, of diesel engined motor buses.