BUS company Blackburn Transport is to fall into private hands after 125 years of service.

The deal will see Blazefield Holdings, a Yorkshire-based arm of French company Transdev, take over the company.

But council chiefs said the deal was not likely to include assurances on fares, the maintenance of unprofitable routes, or redundancies.

The agreement will see a multi-million pound investment in new buses along with a commitment by Blazefield to replace the company's 124-bus fleet within a certain amount of time.

Blackburn with Darwen Council chiefs said the authority was not selling the firm to make money but to secure its long term future.

The move received widespread support from councillors and all three mainstream parties issued a joint statement on the sale.

Councillors will decide at the council's executive board on Thursday whether to keep a 10 per cent share in the company, and the deal is likely to be signed later this year.

The latest publicly available information on Blackburn Transport finance's show it was £74,536 in the red for the year to March 2005.

That compares with losses of £68,233 in March 2004 and £462,243 in March 2003.

It is understood that in the year ending March 2006 the company recorded losses in the tens of thousands, although exact figures have not yet been released.

But the council said that since Blazefield Holdings has owned Lancashire United and Burnley and Pendle Travel, the fares have been lower in those areas.

Coun Kate Hollern, leader of the council, Colin Rigby, Tory opposition, and David Foster, LibDem leader, issued the following statement: "This agreement is good news for the borough. It will secure the future of the transport company and local jobs whilst at the same time bringing much needed investment into public transport which will be welcomed by bus users.

"It is important that as the borough grows and continues to thrive it is served by a first class public transport sector and we are confident that this agreement will play a major part in helping make that happen."

The company started life in April 1881 when Blackburn and Over Darwen Tramways Company started running trams.

Blackburn Transport, as it is now known, was created in 1986 when the Government deregulated public transport, and Blackburn Transport created a bus company, which remained wholly-owned by the council.

Blazefield declined to comment.