Until the mid-1960s, racial discrimination in Britain was legal. Bristol Omnibus Company, backed by some of its white workforce, openly opposed the employment of black workers as bus drivers and conductors. This state of affairs was challenged in 1963 when local black campaigners exposed what was going on and organised a bus boycott inspired by the American civil rights movement. While local support was patchy, the dispute captured international press attention and, after four months, the Bristol Omnibus Company eventually agreed to hire black workers.