PEOPLE who live in big conurbations are used to bus services that follow ring roads so they can get around suburbs without having to go into city centres.

But such services have not been popular across East Lancashire probably because many do not know they exist.

In Blackburn, what has been called the outer circle service was going to be scrapped altogether at the end of this month because it had too few passengers - until someone had a clever idea.

Now council-subsidised bright orange and purple buses, with an OC logo link to the teen TV programme Orange County, will get a new lease of life to woo travellers and keep the route alive. The idea is a great one because, traditionally, young and old alike have made cross-town journeys by coming into the centre of Blackburn and then going out again.

That wastes time and causes unnecessary congestion in an already clogged-up town.

This is the sort of imaginative marketing we need to get people out of cars and on to efficient public transport which meets the needs of travellers.

Now it's time for East Lancashire's rail operators to follow suit and provide a service which attractively meets the needs of passengers and would-be passengers.