I'm travelling on 24120 this morning on the 71 service, it sounds a good solid reliable vehicle but I have noticed some subtle differences compared to standard E300s,

 namely the seats are a lot taller similar to the ones that were on the Scania omnilinks, and there is an extra emergency exit in the roof about 3/4 of the way back. Plus the first two sets of saloon lights are blue coloured which is a feature I have noticed on a lot of Scottish buses and the other ex Carlisle E300s.

Does anybody know why these vehicles are different to native North east examples?