A BUS company has reversed its decision to cut back services from Accrington after protests from pensioners and councillors.

Elderly people were angered when Stagecoach Ribble announced its intention to scale down services in the Spring Hill and Barnfield areas of town along with some buses to Huncoat and Church.

Stagecoach threatened to cut back services from the town centre to Huncoat and Dill Hall Lane, Church, because they were not paying well enough, but later won them back along with a cash subsidy from Lancashire County Council.

Routes were also set to be removed in the Spring Hill and Barnfield areas, leaving some pensioners with long walks to bus stops, but Stagecoach has now decided to restore those services.

Stagecoach Ribble operations director David Ashworth said: "Some of the services we won back on tender and some we decided to put back on, following complaints from our customers."

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council, responsible for bus transport in Hyndburn, said: "Stagecoach Ribble pulled out of some of the routes because it said it could not run them as a commercial service.

"The county council then put those services out to tender. Stagecoach Ribble have won the tender and will now run those services on a subsidised basis.

"Other services were pulled by Stagecoach and then reinstated."

Rival firm Pilkington buses has launched a new service P8 to run between the town centre and Spring Hill.

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