LEIGH residents are being given the opportunity to put across their views on local public transport services to the people responsible for providing them by attending their Local Transport Group.

The borough's next Local Transport Group is to be held in Committee Room B, Wigan Town Hall, at 6.15pm tonight (Thursday).

The meeting will be attended by a variety of transport officials, including senior representation from GMPTE and local transport operators.

Earlier, at 5.30pm, an Operators Surgery will give people the chance to discuss individual service matters with the relevant operator on a one-to-one basis.

Councillor John Hilton, Wigan spokesperson for Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority, said: "The Authority is committed to ensuring that local residents have a say in creating the best possible public transport system for the county. In order to do this, we need to have an active input from local transport users. Local Transport Groups provide an ideal opportunity for passengers to tell their local transport operators, as well as members of the Authority and GMPTE, exactly what they want out of their services."

Chair of Wigan's LTG, Reg Holmes, added: "The Local Transport Group meetings are an invaluable opportunity for people to make their views known about their local transport services - both to the operators who run them and the authorities responsible for planning for the future of the transport network. We are holding the meetings in the early evening so that a wider cross section of the community can attend, and I encourage people to come along and join in."

Local Transport Groups are arranged by the Authority and held in each of the ten districts of Greater Manchester. The meetings cover a broad range of issues relating to public transport and particularly act as a forum for local passengers.