TRANSPORT bosses have introduced the first new buses since the bus war in a bid to improve services.

Warrington Borough Transport is operating five new buses on routes in Penketh and Sankey at a cost of £650,000.

And the company is planning new services linking Penketh, Sankey and Westbrook and will purchase another 10 buses next year.

Managing Director George Hurst said: "This is our first new investment since the bus war - it's taken us three years to recover from it. We are looking particularly at providing new services to the shopping centre at Westbrook.

"We are trying to persuade the council to release some of the Rural Bus Grant so we can provide the kinds of services that the Government has targeted.

"We would like to go for special low floor buses for disabled people, the elderly and mums with shopping. But we would need the borough council to lift kerbs by eight inches, one route at a time."

Mr Hurst said WBT would work in partnership with the council to respond to the needs of passengers in a town where 40 per cent of people do not have access to a car.

He added: "We've tried to provide a good network of services which connect at the bus station. But the station presents another problem - it's not very nice, it's full of undesirables and it's a no-go area at night."

Clr John Taylor, Deputy Chairman of the Transport Committee, said work to heighten kerbs would start in the near future on roads which are under repair. Rural bus grant funds would be used to link areas such as Penketh, Burtonwood and Culcheth in a circular route around the town, without going through the centre, he said.

He added: "As for the bus station, we readily agree that it is not up to the standard the public deserves.

"But it may me moved or refurbished in the near future as part of an extension of the Golden Square, so we are reluctant to spend public funds on it at the moment."

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