Vital villages bus service in South Ribble spared the axe – at least for six months

The No 12 service, which is run by Preston Bus on a half-hourly basis connecting the city centre with New Longton and Longton, has been spared with a temporary subsidy from County Hall chiefs after it looked doomed to close down on March 31.

But after stepping in, they say the reprieve might only last until the end of September, pending a full assessment of the whole network during the summer.Longton Parish Council, which has been funding the service since 2016, has told the county council it can no longer afford to subsidise the route, which is the only public transport link between Longton and New Longton, going on to Preston.

So LCC say they will pick up the cost from the end of March to the end of September to avoid leaving hundreds of villages stranded.

"As Service 12 provides the only link between Longton and New Longton and then into Preston, and is used by people to access health, shopping and educational activities it meets the criteria for support by the county council," said Coun Rupert Swarbrick, cabinet member for highways and transport.

"We have a duty to consider how we use the funding we receive to provide people with the best access to public transport we can, and ensure that no sizeable population is left without any links.

"On this basis we will be funding the continued operation of Service 12 with it’s current timetable for at least six months while we consider longer term solutions for bus services in the area."

Longton PC said that after almost seven years of supporting the service the rising cost was proving too much. Funding needed to keep it going had increased "substantially" over the past two years.

The council said it had decided it could not justify the increased cost to residents within their parish, raising the possibility that the service could stop running from March 31.

Now, following discussions with Longton Parish Council and Preston Bus, LCC has agreed to fund it for six further months “while a wider assessment of the local bus network is carried out.”