A PENSIONER suffering from Alzheimer's disease walked ten miles home in the rain after the bus from a council-organised OAP day trip left without him.

Allan Jones, 69, set off from Preston Guild Hall at 5pm and arrived home tired and distressed at New Chapel Street, Mill Hill, Blackburn at 9pm.

Today his family spoke of their anger and said they were assured Mr Jones, who has a poor short term memory, would be well-watched throughout the trip.

Adam Scott, Blackburn with Darwen Council's director of regeneration, housing and neighbourhoods, apologised to the family for any distress and said lessons would be learned to make sure it never happened again.

He said staff told him they had not been made fully aware of the implications of Mr Jones's medical condition.

Police and family had been desperately searching for him after the staff at the council's Mill Hill Community Centre admitted a coach had waited for 20 minutes at the meeting point but then set off without him.

Mr Jones and five elderly women had gone on an afternoon shopping trip to Preston on a mini-bus booked by the community centre staff.

His family realised something was wrong when they went to pick Mr Jones up at 5.15pm and there was no answer at his home.

They went to the centre and claimed staff said he had been dropped off.

But, at about 6.45pm, a member of staff from the centre called the family and said: 'Your father has been left in Preston'.

Council officers today said they understood no one from the centre went on the trip.

Mr Jones' daughter Pat Brindle, 54, of Parkinson Street, Mill Hill, said: "We were scared out of our wits. I thought about his heart and an old fellow that age walking 10 miles. We didn't know if he had been mugged, or knocked down."

Mrs Brindle, her husband Richard, 60, and daughter Marie, 30, searched Preston city centre before they telephoned Mr Jones' home and he eventually answered.

Police, who issued descriptions and photos of Mr Jones around Preston, and his family said they were unsure of the exact route he had taken.

But it appears he went along Preston Old Road coming through Higher Walton and Feniscowles.

It was the first time he had taken part in the senior citizens' club, which meets every Tuesday, and this coincided with the monthly trip out.

Mrs Brindle said she and Marie made it clear to two members of staff about the seriousness of his condition, which has deteriorated over eight years to leave him with almost no short term memory.

Mrs Brindle claimed the two members of staff told them not to worry, and assured them their dad, who has been a widower for 15 years, would be watched constantly, so they left him for the trip.

Sayyed Osman, assistant director for regeneration at Blackburn with Darwen Council is meeting the family on Monday night to talk about the incident.

He said: "The council has apologised unreservedly to Mr Jones and his family for any distress caused and are meeting the family in the near future to discuss the matter.

"His carer had left him at Mill Hill for the first time and the staff were not made fully aware of the implications of his medical condition.

"When Mr Jones did not return to the bus at the allotted time the driver searched for him, but was unable to find him. Other staff from the Mill Hill Centre returned to Preston to look for Mr. Jones, but were also unable to find him.

"The staff at the centre have been most upset by this and are all grateful that Mr Jones has returned home safely. "

Inspector Mick Laraway, of Blackburn police, said: "We checked relatives, hospitals, CCTV footage of both towns, custody suites, and our colleagues in Preston searched the town centre.

"The British Transport Police were involved and we contacted bus companies. We also put patrols along the A59, which is the most obvious route between the towns."