TEN new bus shelters are to be installed as part of a £150,000 improvement scheme on the route out to rural parts of Pendle.

Members of Pendle’s Lancashire Local committee approved plans to provide the new bus stops beyond Colne, out to Barnoldswick and Trawden.

They also supported recommendations to enhance and upgrade some of the exisiting shelters on the Mainline route.

Councillors welcomed the scheme but said it was long overdue and needs to be extended to include those in Sough and Kelbrook Road.

Bus stops between Padiham and Colne town centre were improved after funding was secured in 2001.

As part of the next phase, 15 stops have been identified and selected in conjunction with the bus operator, based on usage or the need for safety improvements such as hardstanding. A further four stops are on the reserve list to be built if finance is available.

The work is now subject to approval by the county council’s cabinet member for highways and transport.

Speaking at this month’s committee meeting, Coun Margaret Bell said: "We are still not getting a quality bus scheme - we are getting a sub-standard one.

"There were several bus stops which we were going to put in the extension in Sough and Kelbrook Road which have not been incorporated into the final plans."

But Coun Howard Thomas said that proposals for the remaining 10 bus stops should not held up for the sake of difficulties over the West Craven allocation.

He was also criticial of the amount of time it had taken for the quality bus initiative to reach parts of Pendle.

"The scheme is months, if not years behind, from when it was first proposed and it seems to me that people have been making excuses about this," Coun Thomas added.