SCHOOL bus services may be saved by combining routes, councillors said.

Pendle Council is campaigning against the planned axing of services throughout the borough, saying it will increase congestion and put children at risk.

The Lancashire Local committee for Pendle has put together a package of proposals to keep the services on the road, with alternative services changing their route patterns to keep the villages covered.

The Lancashire County Council member in charge of school transport, Coun Tony Martin, will make his final decision over which routes will face the chop next Thursday.

Under the proposals, routes from Pendle villages to Colne and Nelson schools would be slashed. Lanashire County Council reports said they are underused and aims to save nearly half a million pounds in bus subsidies.

But Lancashire Local chairman Councillor David Whipp said the services would not be underused if the county authority had not allowed a fares hike last year which saw parents paying up to £15 a week per child.

He said: "We have put forward a case to retain as many services as possible.

"The risk to children, increased congestion, impact on the environment and other problems justify continued subsidy of these socially necessary services.

"If services are axed, we demand additional pedestrian crossings together with retiming and re-routing of commercial services to better serve pupils.

"We are also suggesting staggering school times to allow buses to serve more than one school and combining existing routes where possible.

He suggested serving Higherford pupils by changing the route of an alternative service, and setting up a combined route for Laneshawbridge and Trawden children.

Saving the 929 service taking Barnoldswick and Earby children to Park High School is also a priority, he said, because another service, the 294, will be axed this month.

In a letter to Coun Martin he said: "The committee highlights opportunities to address these problems in a way which will minimise the impact where services cannot be maintained.

"We highlight the need to increase the budget for services so those more marginal cases, where the resulting impact and risks to pupils can be addressed by solutions that will require further funding. In some cases, an increased subsidy is part of that solution."