A MINIBUS specially adapted for elderly and disabled people spends half its working life carrying schoolchildren.

The County Rider, which has become a lifeline for housebound people, runs three days a week from 9.30am to 2.30pm round Rossendale, operating a door-to-door service for people who cannot use ordinary public transport.

The bus is always oversubscribed but at peak times, it is used to carry Rossendale children to and from St Theodore's School in Burnley.

The situation was condemned by members of Rossendale's Public Transport Committee who have asked for urgent talks with County Council staff.

County Rider driver Ina Watters told the committee the bus is overbooked on Thursdays and Fridays and generally full on Tuesdays - the three days it operates. She said: "People are having to be turned away because so many want to use it in such a short time. I start at about 9.15am and have to be back in the garage at 3pm. As a result I have to take people back home before 2.30pm. This means that disabled people are not allowed out after 2.30pm."

Ina told councillors the County Rider can hold 13 passengers plus a wheelchair. The bus has a special lift for people who cannot manage the step. Tickets are more expensive than bus fares, but cheaper than a taxi.

Bus operations director Barry Drellingcourt said when the County Rider was first launched he kept the adapted minibus for this service alone, expecting the County Council to extend the operation as it began to generate income.

This had never happened and for financial reasons he had been forced to find another contract to keep the bus running.

The committee is now to take an in-depth look at the cost of the service, the size of the County Council's subsidy and the amount of income the service brings in.

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