A CLEVELEYS pensioner who has difficulty walking fears she will lose her local bus route because of "thoughtless" parking by local civil servants.

Florence Anderson, 77, of Brisbane Place said a No 3 bus driver told her the route could be scrapped in her area because cars parked by Norcross civil servants were causing bottlenecks.

It is believed that parking restrictions introduced in the Eastpines Drive area are forcing a parking problem onto nearby roads along the No 3 bus route.

Mrs Anderson said: "There's a lot of old people on this estate. This is the one and only bus that we have got. I have just come out of hospital and I've had two operations on my right leg so it's not very easy to walk anyway.

"We haven't all got cars and we can't all drive, and you can't keep affording taxis on your pension."

Blackpool Transport spokesman Liz Esnouf confirmed the bus route may have to be withdrawn from the area because buses cannot get past the parked cars.

"We have had extreme difficulty getting the buses through. We have ended up putting an inspector out to help walk the buses through," she said.

She confirmed Blackpool Transport have approached Blackpool Borough Council about the congestion, which is causing delays and disruption along the whole route.

"We do not want to take buses out of the area at all. However, as the situation is at the moment there will be no other alternative for us. We may be forced to consider rerouting that bus," she said.

Anchorsholme ward councillor Jon Bamborough said Blackpool Council was dealing with the issue."The whole council do want to sort this out," he said. "I have put together a plan of what restrictions we need and sent that to the council, which is looking at it. Something does need to be done about it and very soon."

It is understood that future action may include vehicles parked illegally and dangerously being towed away.

A spokesman for Norcross government buildings said temporary staff transfers from another site had led to increased amounts of cars in the area.

She said: "When this is resolved the overflow will stop. All the staff at the Norcross site have been advised to park sensibly and have been informed of the consequences of failing to do so."

A meeting of the Sevenoaks Tenants Association is due to take place tonight (Thursday) at Sevenoaks day centre, starting at 6.30pm, when tenants can meet their area housing officer and planned maintenance officer. A raffle will be run, and refreshments will be available.