BUS shelters in a town have been describe as a ‘disgrace’ by councillors.

Cllr Dorothy Lord and Lord Tony Greaves, who sit on Colne Town Council, have struck out over the appearance of the small shelters, which are owned by the council.

Cllr Lord said the small shelters are in a poor condition, with panels missing, pieces of wood sticking out and are a ‘danger to children’.

Concerns were raised after Cllr Lord, who is also the president of the Colne in Bloom group, said the condition of the bus shelters were having an affect on the overall appearance and look of the town.

She said: “Since Colne Town Council took over the smaller bus shelters they have been going backwards.

“Panels are missing, they are being filled with unsightly pieces of plywood which keep falling out, they all need painting and generally they are just a tatty mess.

“Some are a danger to small children. I have complained about them to the town council but nothing has been done.

“A lot of people in Colne including our Colne in Bloom team do their best to make our town a place to be proud of. The bus shelters are really letting us all down.

“If places like Barnoldswick and Trawden can look after their shelters why can’t Colne?”

Concerns have also been made about the bus shelters owned by Primesight, which are currently involved with negotiations to be passed over to the town council.

Lord Greaves said: “I am fed up of everyone passing the buck.

“Colne Town Council have suggested they could take them on but they can’t even look after the ones they already have.

“It’s time to knock some heads together and get them sorted.

“Lancashire County Council and bus operators Transdev have washed their hands of the problem.”

Cllr Paul Foxley, chairman of the town council, said he is not aware of any of the bus shelters which are owned by the town council to be dangerous.

He said: “We have replaced a panel highlighted by Cllr Dorothy Lord with a temporary measure.

“Yes it may not look as pleasing on the eye, but we are currently negotiating to take over the other bus shelters so it would not be appropriate to have some bus shelters fully repaired and other ones, which are not owned by us, look poor.

“When we took over the bus shelters from Pendle Council we looked at the overall situation add started looking at a new way forward and to try and improve them.

“There are people in this town for some reason who want to dismantle our bus shelters and this is not acceptable.

“I had a meeting last week with town councillors about trying to encourage people to report more vandalism and damages in the town centre in order to cut this problem out.

“There are no bus shelters that I am aware of that pose a danger to children or have pieces of glass or wood sticking out.”