PLANS to give buses priority on local roads have been given the green light.

New quality bus corridors to reduce travelling times between Bury and Manchester are now going to the detailed design stage.

But some politicians are worried that so few members of the public bothered to make their views known, despite months of consultation.

Some 17,000 leaflets were sent to properties along the routes, a telephone hotline was set up, and six exhibitions held along the proposed corridor showing bus priority schemes in detail.

Also, a further 300 letters were sent to people living next to the roads where new bus stops might be erected.

In the end, only 78 responses, or 0.45 per cent of the questionnaires, were returned. Nearly half of those were objections to the siting of specific bus stops. Only two people complained about the plans in principle. Councillor Dorothy Gunther, Tory deputy leader, said that she found the low turnout disturbing.

"These consultations we undertook are absolutely useless," she said. "People think there's no point in responding because it's going to happen anyway."

However, Coun Wayne Campbell, Labour's transport chairman, said: "If people are not happy with a scheme, I am positive they would let us know. It's only right we keep people informed and give them a chance to put their views forward."

And council leader Derek Boden said that the low number of people who responded was not an excuse for abolishing consultation.

The quality bus corridors would stretch from Bury to Manchester, down Manchester Road and then along both Bury Old Road and Bury New Road in Whitefield and Prestwich.

Bus lanes are a key part of the plans, and drivers could even change the traffic lights to allow them ahead of other drivers.