HE'S at it again. Your regular correspondent Peter Roscoe airs his bizarre views on the activities of Blackpool's Labour administration (Citizen, March 15). In his latest diatribe Mr Roscoe accuses the Labour group of having an evil plan to axe the school bus service so forcing the town's schoolchildren to walk vast distances in all weathers.

This is a nonsense story propagated by the likes of Mr Roscoe, Peter Callow and one-time failed Labour candidate John Finlay. Now for the facts. The present difficulties with the school bus services are a direct result of the 1985 Bus Deregulation Act introduced by Mr Roscoe's own party. Under the Act, Blackpool Transport became a limited company wholly owned by the council.

However, the Act grants a great deal of commercial and operational freedom to the senior management of all municipally owned transport companies and severely curtails the ability of councillors to direct company policy.

Sometimes, when a problem does arise, councillors are often the last people to be informed, hence the poor communications which allowed this story to develop.

Another delightful feature of the Act is a ban on any such company cross-subsidising unprofitable services. The five school bus routes to which Mr Roscoe refers were run as commercial concerns by Blackpool Transport; that is without any subsidy from the local authority.

Blackpool Transport now deems these services to be unprofitable and as such has had to turn to the council to support them.

This support has been granted and the services will continue to be run until the end of the academic year after which the council intends to continue these services.

However, under the same ludicrous legislation, the operation of these now subsidised services will have to be put out to tender.

Sorry to ruin your fun Mr Roscoe. I know you never like to let the facts get in the way of a good partisan rant. But, set against the above facts, your comments on this subject are patently absurd -- just like all your other wild claims about the council.

James Sorah,

Keswick Road, Blackpool.