TRANSPORT services in Rossendale are set to be boosted by a multi-million pound investment in 2018 after Transdev announced plans to buy the borough council’s shares in the bus operator Rosso.

As part of the outline agreement, Transdev said it is planning to invest significantly in Rosso, including spending in the region of £3million in 2018 on state-of-the-art new buses to be placed on the busiest routes.

The deal could be approved by Rossendale Borough Council members at a meeting on Wednesday.

Borough council leader Cllr Alyson Barnes, said the deal was not about the authority meeting its financial challenges, but improving the service to residents and connecting Rossendale to Blackburn, Burnley, Bolton, Ramsbottom, Bury and Rochdale.

Cllr Barnes said:“The proposed sale is a great deal for the council and for the borough that will see significant investment into the Rosso company to make sure we continue to get a great bus service locally.

"It’s not about resolving the council’s financial challenges, we are looking at other ways of closing our budget gap and ensuring continuous improvement in public services.

“Transdev is an award-winning company with a strong reputation for quality services and investment that gets more people on board buses.

"Residents will benefit from that the fact that the new service will be able to join up routes right across the local sub-region. We would not be selling our shares if we didn’t think they could deliver an even better service than we have now.”

Following the proposed deal, Transdev said it plans to keep the Rosso brand alongside more new local identities. And it intends to make effective use of the new bus station currently being built in Rawtenstall, as well as introducing integrated ticketing and improving information to customers.

As part of the proposed deal, the borough council will retain the Haslingden depot in support of its commercial investment strategy.

Alex Hornby, chief executive of Transdev, said: “Following approval and finalisation of the proposed deal, we are looking forward to welcoming our new colleagues at Rosso into the Transdev Blazefield family. Our track record in Lancashire and across the north is one of growth, innovation and creating buses that people want to be seen on, and we have exciting plans including investment in new, hi-spec buses to benefit the people of Rossendale.”