INQUIRING about the logos that appeared on buses within the borough many years ago, Mr R Davies (Letters, February 15) seems to remember them showing 'Blackburn with Darwen Transport' on the fronts and sides.

This is not the case. Indeed, the concept of the form of words 'Blackburn with Darwen' seems to have appeared with the unitary status bid of the 1990s.

Prior to the original local government reorganisation in 1974, there existed two separate transport departments, each belonging to the two separate borough councils of Blackburn and Darwen.

Blackburn's buses were green and cream and carried a corporation crest on them. The only reference to Blackburn was contained in what is known as the legal lettering that stated 'Blackburn Corporation Transport, Railway Road, Blackburn.'

Darwen's buses were red and cream and carried a corporation crest with the wording 'Darwen Corporation' in gold lettering below the crest on the body sides of the buses.

Upon reorganisation on April 1, 1974, a stylised logo appeared along with a new livery of white with a dark green skirt and red upper deck windows and roof. The word(s) 'Blackburn' or 'Blackburn Transport' (it seemed to vary) appeared next to the logotype. This, not very popular, livery continued for some time, but the buses began to look very grimy and in the late 1970s a variation of the former tram livery of predominantly green with cream relief was introduced.

The new livery contained the Blackburn borough crest and the name of the transport department was, again, relegated to the skirt panel legal letter which read 'Borough of Blackburn Transport Department.' This continued until the early 1980s when a new livery of two-tone green lower half and a cream top half was introduced with the logo 'Blackburn Transport -- Your Local Buses Service You' and remained into the early 1990s. In 1986, at deregulation, the newly-formed limited company, no longer a transport department, became Blackburn Borough Transport Limited.

In the early 1990s a much blander livery of cream with a green skirt was introduced with what can only be described as a stylised logo reading 'Blackburn' appeared. This livery, like that introduced in 1974, showed every speck of dirt on the bus and lasted until late 1999.

In November, 1999 the first bus to roll out of the paint shop in what is now the standard bus livery that we see today ran in Blackburn. The name 'Blackburn Transport' appears on its sides and on the front and rear. (If Blackburn Transport won't fit in the space available, the word 'Blackburn' appears instead).

MICHAEL MORTON, Managing Director, Blackburn Transport.