RESIDENTS have demanded transport chiefs make changes to bus routes in Ramsbottom, Greenmount and Tottington.

Representatives from Transport for Greater Manchester attended the Ramsbottom, Tottington and North Manor Township Forum to answer questions on Tuesday.

Nick Roberts and Sam Tysoe were invited following the last township forum meeting in July when complaints were made about the bus service around Greenmount and the stopping of the 481 service.

Chair Cllr Dorothy Gunther said: "We have invited you here so hopefully you can listen to our concerns."

Mr Roberts said: "Although there aren't any bus operators here at this meeting we will feed back to them,

"Sometimes when an operator pulls a service we can fill those gaps where is a social requirement but this isn't possible for every route. There is massive financial pressures so there are constant reviews of the network. Part of that has impacted on Bury. We have to look at the services, see how much they cost and see how much people use them.

"We are conscious that some of the services that have been taken off are controversial we want to know your feelings."

Issues brought up by residents at the meeting including the cutting of some of the services and the lack of service through Greenmount.

Resident Noel Booth said: "I commiserate with people who live in Summerseat without cars."

While Christine Taylor added: "The bus service from Greenmount to Bury that goes through Walshaw is not fit for purpose. Then there's the Local Link service which only benefits people who have a lot of time on their hands.

"We want the 468/469 coming the extra mile up to Greenmount. If you could subsidise Rosso just for a short time you would see that there’s a need for this."

Mr Roberts agreed that he and Mr Tysoe would go away and look at what had been suggested and return to the next township forum meeting in January to feedback.

Mr Roberts added: "We will come back to another meeting and report. You might not like what we are going to be saying but we will be transparent."