A BUS route has been diverted because speed ramps have sent a repair bill rocketing.

The number of damaged springs on Burnley and Pendle Transport buses have doubled since the "sleeping policemen" were put down in Mansfield Crescent, Brierfield, and Reedley Road, Reedley.

The bus company says the route of the 98 service will stay altered, even though some work has been carried out by Pendle Council to make the ramps in Mansfield Crescent more "user-friendly".

A meeting between council officers and bus managers ended with the company sticking to the route changes, despite protests from bus users.

The service between Burnley and Nelson, via the hospitals, has reverted to its original route along the main road rather than the "round the houses" route which took the buses over the road humps.

The ramps caused around £2,000 damage to bus springs and forced managers to re-route the service.

Burnley and Pendle managing director Bill Jelpke said: "We've reverted to the route we were doing two years ago.

"Even with the work being carried out on the ramps, it's felt the demand is so limited that it's best to continue with the route as it was.

"We've had a handful of letters complaining about the change but there aren't enough passengers using the service to warrant the problems the new route has caused.

"The repair bill has been frightfully expensive. We've had double the number of spring problems."

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