PLANS for a park and ride in Rawtenstall have provoked a bitter row between campaigners and council bosses.

Rossendale Council bosses have drawn up proposals for a facility with public transport operator Transdev, as part of discussions over the town’s new bus station.

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But traders are concerned it will whisk customers away to Manchester, on the X43 service, at the expense of Rawtenstall’s high street.

Karl Mather, of Mather Gallery in Bury Road, said: “If it was a park and ride for workers then that might be understandable. But if they are looking to promote Manchester over Rawtenstall then that would be nuts.”

Peter Wood, of the Friends of Rawtenstall group, said: “How is a park and ride in the centre of town taking shoppers and workers out to Manchester going to help local traders and their shoppers?”

But council leader Cllr Alyson Barnes said: “There is a need to balance parking arrangements in Rawtenstall town centre - this is not about dragging people away to Manchester.

“Currently we have people who live in Rossendale work in Manchester, and those working in Rawtenstall, parking there all day.”

The key aim of the review would be to ensure that Rawtenstall remained a ‘convenient’ place for people to shop, she added.

Councillors were told in July that an agreement had been reached in principle with Transdev for the X43 service to use the new bus station.

And it had been resolved with Transdev that there will be ‘designated park and ride facilities in the town centre’ as part of moves to ‘support and develop the X43 service’.

Borough bus firm Rosso currently pays 33.6p, for east-west journeys and the present countywide average is 76p.

Transdev presently pays nothing in departure charges as it uses stops on Bank Street but has agreed to the 76p levy for two years.

The friends group has also launched a petition in opposition to the bus station, via the website change.org, urging Transport Secretary Chris Grayling to step in. Last night the petition had nearly 650 signatures.