A TEENAGER has decided to make a stand against the 40 per cent increase in his bus fare.

And 15-year-old Nathan Lewin has already collected 260 signatures from fellow pupils and teachers who back his stand.

As the Bolton News reported last week Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority chose to raise the cost of concessionary travel from 50p per trip to 70p.

As a result of the rises, which came into force on Sunday, some parents will have to pay more than £100 a year extra to get their children to school by bus.

The rise - introduced as a budget balancing measure after the government told GMPTA to pay an extra £3.4 million to cover the costs of providing free bus travel for pensioners and disabled people.

Companies already received £82 million for concessionary travel and to subsidise unprofitable routes but the Department for Transport ruled that operators were entitled to more.

Cllr Nick Peel, GMPTA's Bolton spokesman, said: "We either had to cut back on our subsidised network or look at concessions."

Nathan, a year 10 student at Thornleigh Salesian College, said: "It's not fair on people who could only just about afford to get to school as it was.

"A few of my mates have to get two buses to school and back so they're paying twice as much.

"They could have increased prices by a small amount but not 40 per cent."

The fare changes affect children under 16, youngsters aged 16 to 19 with a scholar's permit and those with an over 60's or disabled person's permit, who pay to travel before 9.30am.

Children whose nearest school is more than three miles from their home by the shortest walking route are awarded free bus passes.

Nathan's mum Kathryn, of Third Avenue, Heaton, said it meant paying an extra £4 per week - more than £150 over a full school year - to get Nathan and his brother Alex, aged 12, to school.

"When you're lucky to get a 2.5 per cent increase in your own wages, it's a hell of a lot to find," said Mrs Lewin, who works as a primary school learning mentor.