A 77-YEAR-OLD woman has hailed staff at a voluntary bus service as “lifesavers” after they kept residents stocked up with essentials during the cold spell.

The Little Green Bus came to the rescue of elderly people in the Ribble Valley who had been unable to leave their homes since Christmas due to the treacherous roads and pavements.

The service normally transports elderly and vulnerable people to vital appointments or to do their food shopping.

However, due to the weather, resi-dents from more than 30 homes were cut off and unable to buy vital provisions.

So, bosses at the bus service contacted local supermarkets incl-uding Booths, Sainsbury’s and Tesco who donated essentials such as tea, coffee, milk, sugar and toilet roll. The essential items were then delivered to residents.

Muriel Ainsworth, of Mellor Lane, said the service had been absolutely fabulous.

“It was a lifesaver because we couldn’t get out and for them to spontaneously come and deliver all this food was fantastic.” she said.

“Two men arrived with all these free essentials. It was very helpful because we couldn’t leave our homes due to the awful weather.”

The Little Green Bus has been running for five years and is a social enterprise, operating on a not-for-profit basis.

Donna Atkinson, manager of the Little Green Bus, said: “We want to thank the supermarkets and all the volunteers who made this possible.”