WORRIED shoppers who use the Morrisons store on Riversway are protesting about the closure of a free bus link to the supermarket.

Many customers who live on the Larches and Lea estates, in Preston, say the end of the service on Sunday, September 2, will cut off their lifeline and leave them without a direct bus to the supermarket.

Alex and Evelyn Dickinson, of Parkfield Crescent, Lea, use the bus service every Tuesday and Thursday. When he heard about the planned closure, Alex started a petition asking the company to rethink their decision.

He said: "When Morrisons moved from the town centre to Riversway in 1997, they introduced a temporary bus service to transfer people to the docks. This diverts up to Lea -- where I live -- then to Larches and finally Morrisons.

"If the service ended it would mean two bus trips. People would probably decide to shop in town instead. We have got around 250 signatures so far on the petition."

The worried shoppers approached local Liberal Democrat Councillor Bill Chadwick for help who discovered that many customers would even be willing to pay a fare to keep the service running.

Coun Chadwick said: "Many customers, already deprived because of the Tesco closure, would probably pay a reasonable amount, say 50p return, to keep the service going. I have also written to Preston Bus asking if they could help with any occasional bus diversions to reduce the impact of Morrisons' action."

But Morrisons say it was only ever intended to be temporary service and will have to end.

Anne Kirkhope, spokesman for the firm, said: "Originally it was for four weeks. The number of people using the service has steadily declined and because the store is also served by a good service from Preston bus station it is uneconomical for us.

"It is no longer needed for us so we haven't looked at alternatives. But we have looked into the services running from the town and there are currently two running to right outside the store -- bus numbers 29 and 30. We are confident that there are alternative services to be used."

bhewes@lancashire.newsquest.co.uk