I READ Councillor Guy Harkin's reply to Mrs Hesten (Nov 3) with dismay, disappointment and disbelief!

This letter about the axed 560 bus service, from a GMPTE councillor who is elected to serve the general travelling public, was rude in the extreme and warrants an immediate apology for its tone, if not its content.

It attacks Mrs Hesten, a lady nearing her 90th year, for fighting for what we on Turton Road believe to be our right!

As for the comments about the politics of the councillors trying to represent us, I can only say that several Labour councillors were approached but not one of those who replied felt they could help. By contrast, councillors Wright and Walsh have kept up the pressure to have some dialogue with the people concerned, for which we are extremely grateful. To resolve the problem of the 560 bus route we need to look for compromise, not confrontation. We were not consulted when the service was scheduled for termination, although transport policy states that consultation should take place.

We were arbitrarily chosen to have the shared taxi service foisted upon us. It does not replace the hourly bus service we have lost and is proving difficult, costly and unworkable for all passengers wishing to travel between Bury and Bolton, via Turton Road.

The fact that this is, in part, a rural service is irrelevant because both the start and finish of this route are in heavily populated areas.

It was stated that although the route was not making a large profit, it was not losing money. It is inevitable that a rural service, by its very nature, cannot provide large numbers of passengers. But does that mean that we are not entitled to public transport?

John Prescott keeps informing the rural population that the Government is providing lots of money to give us "at least an hourly service within a ten-minute walking distance".

This is a quote from the relevant Government document on rural transport up to 2010. Are these empty words? With the winter months upon us it is the vulnerable and elderly who are the losers.

So let's have an apology, please, Coun Harkin.

TURTON ROAD RESIDENT