SO bus fares are going up in East Lancashire (LT, July 9).

It actually is, and has been for some time, less expensive to take a taxi for many journeys in Rossendale.

Why should a person have to walk because they have been priced out of public transport?

What if you happen to be a person with a child, or two? How are you going to get from Stacksteads to Asda in Rawtenstall and back in the middle of winter to do your weekly shop?

Two years ago it was almost as expensive as taking a cab. I shudder to think what the price is now.

And this from a Labour Council. Is it any wonder that ill-informed tax payers and voters are such easy meat for the likes of UKIP or even the BNP in Rossendale, when a Labour council appears to be taking the food from the mouths of children?

Yet nobody ever manages to explain why a 40-mile return trip to Manchester from Rawtenstall on the ‘Witch Way’ bus costs the same as a five-mile round trip from Bacup to Rawtenstall.

herethereandeverywhere (via website).