PARTY-goers visiting Blackburn town centre over Christmas can take advantage of a special late night bus service to get them home.

Blackburn with Darwen Council has teamed up with Blackburn Transport to arrange the pilot bus scheme to help get revellers home after a night on the town.

The N3 service, from Blackburn to Darwen Cemetery and the N46 service, to Accrington, will both leave Blackburn on the hour at midnight, 1am and 2am on Friday and Saturday nights for the rest of the month.

The Darwen bus will collect passengers from Darwen Street, opposite Radio Lancashire only and the Accrington bus will pick up passengers outside Blakey's, in Northgate.

Fares are £2 to all stops and passengers will have the added benefit of CCTV and a registered doorman on each bus to ensure the journey passes safely.

Passengers can get off the bus anywhere along the two routes, but the buses will not be taking on any passengers anywhere other than in Blackburn town centre.

Councillor Maureen Bateson said the aim of the scheme was to improve transport out of the centre during the busiest month of the year, to prevent disturbances and people facing long waiting times for taxis.

She said: "This is an excellent scheme provided by Blackburn Transport and, hopefully, people will use it.

"Our aim is to ensure people can get home as quickly and as safely as possible, and reduce the number of people tempted to drink and drive over the festive season.

"The bus stops are in full view of the town's CCTV cameras, so there is added security for passengers there."