COUNTY Council bosses have pledged to continue supporting 17 bus services -- despite subsidies costing them more than £2 per passenger per journey.

Transport chiefs have earmarked £300,000 to keep the routes going until at least 2008 because scrapping them would leave local people high and dry.

Normally, support for services would be scrapped once the subsidy per passenger topped £2. But the 17 services, nine of which operate in East Lancashire, have been deemed special cases because they 'provide vital transport links'.

Several of the services are school buses and cutting them would leave pupils with no way to get to school other than by car.

Coun Jean Yates, in charge of transport at LCC, said: "These contracts are being awarded because the services prevent hardship and provide travel opportunities which otherwise would not exist."

One service, the Coppull to Southlands, Albany and Holy Cross Schools in Chorley, has been saved at a cost of £4.97 per head. Others include the number 98 Nelson to Cravedale Ave evening service, which currently costs £3.67 per passenger. It provides the only evening and Sunday link to Marsden Park.

The number 19 Rawtenstall-Water-Burnley service on Saturdays is also kept because it provides the only public link between Burnley and Water, and costs £4.12 per passenger in subsidy.

School services include the two Burnley-Brougham St Walshaw Community High School links because there are no alternatives, despite costing £2.04 and £2.39, respectively. And the Walshaw School joint service with Nelson Holy Saviours School to Nelson Bus Station, run at a cost of £2.02 per head, is safe.

The Duke Bar, Burnley-Heasandford Primary School service, which costs £3.75 per head, is saved, as is the Gawthorpe High School to Florence Ave service. It remains at a cost of £2.88 subsidy per pupil as there is no direct alternative to the Stoops estate.

And pupils travelling from Water Primary Schools to Waterfoot will keep their £2.87 per head service, as will pupils travelling from St Anselms Primary School to the Wallbank estate, at £2.86 per head.