REGARDING John Farrer's rather blinkered view of the Hyndburn Circular Quality Bus scheme (Letters, June 14), I am rather disappointed that he believes the Lancashire County Council does not listen to the public.

This could not be further from the truth. The county council is a listening council and regularly consults the people of Lancashire on a whole range of issues.

The Government has praised us for the consultation we recently carried out on our Local Transport Plan and we regularly consult more than we are legally required to.

The county council has worked hard with the bus operator Stagecoach and our partners at Hyndburn Council and Blackburn with Darwen Council to deliver real public transport improvements to the people of Hyndburn and Blackburn with Darwen. I welcome the chance to explain the reasons behind the re-siting of the bus stop opposite the town hall in Oswaldtwistle. Two of the main ideas behind the Quality Bus initiative is to ensure that buses can access the raised kerbs, making the buses accessible to all, and to ensure that the service remains reliable.

In this case, the original siting of the stop failed on both counts. The buses were unable to pull fully into the kerb as the stop was on a bend. The service was also made less reliable as the bus experienced difficulties when cars would not let it pull back into the road.

I am happy to listen to Mr Farrer's concerns now, just as I and the county council officers were when we held a series of exhibitions and invited the views of local people on the scheme last year. I hope this has cleared any confusion on the matter.

COUNTY COUNCILLOR RICHARD TOON (chairman, highways and transportation committee, Lancashire County Council), Pear Tree Avenue, Coppull, Chorley.