AN orbital bus route planned to start operating next year could be scrapped if campaigners get their way.

Residents in the Fulwood Row area are against the £2 million route which would see 116 buses pass their homes daily from 5am-11pm.

The plan is to replace permanent bollards on the road with a rising bollard that lets only buses through. Residents claim that the lane is unsuitable for the route as it will be unsafe and noisy.

They have suggested the route be redirected via a new business area in Blue Bell Way, on the other side of the M6, but county council chiefs and Preston Bus bosses have rejected that idea as too expensive.

Preston Bus managing director Peter Bell said: "We like the idea of going through Blue Bell Way, but it would be too expensive.

"It would cost an extra £200,000 a year to run it, and we would only make £30,000 to £40,000 a year from it.

He added that if a solution could not be found, the whole project could be scrapped.

At a public meeting at Longsands Lane primary school on Tuesday, residents met county council officials and Preston Bus chiefs to discuss the plans. But residents branded the meeting "a farce" as there was no chairman and no one taking minutes.

Rosie Ellinger and partner Andi Millard, whose Heatherway home overlooks Fulwood Row, moved to the area last August.

Miss Ellinger said: "We moved here because it was quiet, and now we find out there may be buses thundering down the lane every seven or eight minutes.

"I don't think the road is suitable for so many buses and it would not be safe."

Fulwood Row was closed to through traffic in 1995 due to safety concerns about it becoming a rat run with cars coming off junction 31a of the M6.

Lancashire County Council's public transport group manager Chris Anslow told Tuesday's meeting: "We have spent two years planning the route and we believe that with a rising bollard the scheme will work. But I have heard your objections loud and clear and I will relay that information to the county council."

The plan still needs to be approved by County Councillor Jean Yates, portfolio holder for highways and transportation and there will be a consultation period before a final decision is made.

dbartlett@prestoncitizen.co.uk

. Coun Yates was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.