Thanks for the clarification regarding scrap yards and dealers. There have been cases whereby vehicles have been sent for scrap by an operator yet are not down as SORN for an extended period. This may be a case of the DVLA being lax in actually getting the public records up to date though, something I didn't consider earlier.
The DVLA records that you can search on the website are automatically updated, usually 4-5 days after the start of a month, it's worth pointing out that when a bus is scrapped even if it was on a SORN it will likely remain as such for the whole year until it expires when it will then show as "Unlicensed". It's very rare for buses to be removed from the system as unlike cars, which are issued certificates of death at scrapyards, this seem to seldom happen with buses.
Cheers again for the detail CUL, appreciated.
i contacted the person who uploaded the photos of the arriva scotland ultralows and this was his reply
N104 YVU and N123 DWM were both repainted IIRC but neither ran after the takeover - they were driven from Milliken Park Depot on the last day of Arriva services up here and IIRC both were parked up at Barrhead depot out of use but complete available for sale. I haven't seen either so can't really comment on their current status, so your best contact would probably be McGill's.