A HEADTEACHER says parents are concerned how they are going to get their children to school when a bus service is axed later this month.

The number 2 bus between Burnley and Worsthorne will stop running from July 21.

Louise Young, headteacher of Worsthorne Primary School, said many parents were worried that, when their children return to school in September, there will be no way of getting them to and from school.

She said: “It’s a serious issue. I’ve been told that there are 40,000 journeys a year made using that bus service.

“The problem for us is that we have quite a few families with young children who use the service to come to school and go home again, and they don’t know how they’re going to get there.

“At the moment, our families don’t know what’s going to happen in September.”

Mrs Young met this week with County Councillor John Fillis, cabinet member for highways and transport, who assured her that Lancashire County Council was looking into solutions.

Villagers met at Worsthorne Social Club on Tuesday night to discuss their concerns. Mrs Young said: “A lot of people are going to be affected. There’s no post office here and it’s unreasonable to expect older people to walk up and down Brownhill Road just to get their pension “They can’t afford taxis. They have free bus passes but won’t be able to use them. It’s going to cause huge problems for the community.”

Nigel Eggleton, marketing director of Transdev said: “It’s a difficult decision to withdraw a service from somewhere like Worsthorne, but the service was not financially viable. There were not enough people using it.

“However, that’s not the end of the story. In situations like this, a responsibility passes to the local authority, in this case Lancashire County Council, to see whether it can provide an alternative, and process that is ongoing.”

County Councillor Janice Hanson, cabinet member for public protection and waste, said: “Transdev Burnley and Pendle has taken the decision, on commercial grounds, to discontinue the Burnley to Worsthorne service.

"We have looked into the costs of running this service but, unfortunately, we do not have the funding available to subsidise this route.

"However, we understand the concerns of the local community and are speaking to other bus companies about whether they can provide a service between Burnley and Worsthorne on a commercial basis.”