A REINSTATED bus service could stop pensioners moving away from Ightenhill -- according to a Burnley councillor.

The Ightenhill circular service was withdrawn after bus operator Stagecoach deemed it uneconomical. Stagecoach no longer run buses in Burnley, but new operator Blazefield Holdings have reintroduced the service.

Councillor Alice Thornber teamed up with County Councillor Marcus Johnstone to put pressure on the company to make a case for its return.

Alice, 72, who lives in Cumbrian Way, an area left without a service, said: "The Ightenhill service was very important to a lot of old people.

"They have been deprived of a service. I have known people who have left the area because they do not want to walk all the way to Padiham Road.

"We don't all possess cars and, if we do, we don't all drive. Some people have had to give up driving because of health problems.

"When the weather is bad, old people do not want to be walking the streets with bags of shopping, they need a good, reliable bus service that brings then to within a reasonable distance of their homes."

Coun Thornber also claims that the Ightenhill service will make a difference to single mothers and young families.

"Everyone who does not have access to a car and lives in this area will benefit from the circular service. Anyone who has made the long walk down to Padiham Road on a regular basis will know that."

The new bus service will use the following route: Burnley bus station to Parker Lane, to Hargreaves Street, Westway, Pendle Way, Tunnel Street, Ighten Road, Crow Wood Drive, Coverdale Way, Hargrove Avenue, Gawthorpe Road, Keilder Drive, Pendle Way, Wellfield Drive, Westwood Road, Ighten Road, Ightenhill Park Lane, Lakeland Way, Kiddrow Lane, Sycamore Avenue and Burnley bus station.