Two more Wigan schools are in line for a yellow school bus service.

From the start of the summer term in April, St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School and Byrchall High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield, will join 19 other schools across Greater Manchester benefiting from the fleet of specially designed buses.

Wigan Council are funding two new vehicles with £290,000 from the town's Transport Infrastructure Fund.

Members of the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority (GMPTA) today agreed to fund the operation of the services.

Wigan spokesperson for GMPTA, Councillor Audrey Bennett, said: "I am very pleased to see a further two Wigan schools in line for a yellow school bus service. Twelve of these services are now running in the district and they are proving very effective at tackling problems with anti-social behaviour on the services they replaced.

"As they provide a safe and reliable alternative to travelling to school by car, we are also seeing a real reduction in traffic caused by the school run. I am sure that this new service will be valued by pupils, parents and the two schools."

The new service will replace the 650 school bus service currently running along the A58. It will call at special pick-up and drop-off points close to pupils' homes, and will also run to pupils living in the Hindley area and Castle Hill.

It is estimated that more than 30pc of pupils who will use the yellow school bus service would previously have travelled to school by car.

Pupils using yellow school bus services have to sign up to a code of conduct, use the same seatbelt-equipped seats every day and have regular drivers to help build a good working relationship.

All yellow school bus drivers have undergone an extensive training programme run by GMPTE, which includes training in customer care, first aid, disability awareness, health and safety issues and conflict avoidance.