A CAMPAIGN to revive the former 445 bus service in Norden is gathering pace.

Councillor Wera Hobhouse presented more than 70 letters from residents to Greater Manchester transport boss Councillor Keith Whitmore.

People living on Ellis Fold, Nordale Park, Keepers Drive and Seven Acres Lane are asking for a subsidy to allow a reduced service to operate on the former 445 route.

Councillor Hobhouse said: "More than 70 people directly affected by the loss of the service wrote back to me. The community couldn’t make it clearer to transport bosses.

"The loss of the 445 is a blow to many households and they want at least some service, a reduced service is better than nothing."

Rossendale Transport scrapped the service in November because an average of just two passengers were catching each bus, making the service, which ran between Rochdale and Shawfield Estate, including Ellis Fold via Spotland Road and Edenfield Road, was the worst performing of the three Edenfield Road services.

After the announcement, Councillor Hobhouse wrote to officers at GMPTE, which can subsidise routes that private companies do not want to operate.

Within a week she received a reply that they were ‘looking at options’. She then sent leaflets to residents on the route to ask if they would support the campaign.

She added: "I understand that a decision will be made in March and since we got such a strong campaign going, I have some hope that we get a positive result."

Michael Renshaw, GMPTE’s interim bus and rail director, said: "The 445 service was withdrawn by Rossendale because of very low passenger numbers, which made the provision of a similar subsidised service difficult to justify.

"However, we are exploring the options available to us to see if we can provide a suitable, value for money alternative within the public funds we have available.

"The results of our review will be reported in due course to the members of the GMITA who will make the final decision."