TRAVELLERS across Lancashire are finding out when their next bus is due around the corner -- by looking at their mobile phones!

Lancashire County Council has become the first in the country to let people look up bus timetables via text messaging.

And, according to county hall bosses, the pilot scheme is going down a storm.

Bus users at stops being used for the county-wide pilot are turning up at the stop, tapping in the bus stop number into a text message and waiting for operators to reply with the time when the next bus is due.

The service goes one better than conventional bus timetables, because it can inform passengers if the bus has been delayed.

It only cost £1,000 to implement the pilot project and has been so popular that the Government is now seeing if it can introduce it nationwide.

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: "We introduced this project to meet the growing demand for public transport information through this new medium. We carried out market research which showed the public wants it and it's cheaper than making a voice call by mobile phone.""It has proved to be very popular. We have been amazed by the demand and response from the public. Demand has been so strong that the government has shown a great deal of interest in developing the system on a national scale."

The success of the pilot mirrors that of the call-centre scheme the County Council launched in the 1990s, providing one number for all public transport queries. That too was expanded across the country.

The spokesman added: "LCC created the new national public transport information telephone system in 1998.

"This is now known as Traveline after it was purchased by the Government and made national in August 2000.

"Now Lancashire is pioneering again and we're committed to creating a text system which will soon cover Lancashire and the country, so that people can get cheap, accurate public transport information whenever they want it."

The service is provided by existing call centre staff and the return message includes the expected time of the arrival of the bus and the route it is following.

He said: "If the bus stop reference number is 1082 just send a text saying 1082 to 07764 608 608 and you'll receive a text back within a few minutes saying when the next few buses are due at that particular stop."