I READ with a very wry smile the Bolton Evening News account of the axing of the 478 service by Blue Bus, a form for which the expression "Micky Mouse" has been perfectly coined.

I was a regular user of the service when the battle of the buses took place. Stagecoach was running a 20-minute frequency service, less when two buses in that hour regularly failed to turn up. Blue Bus decided they wanted it, running buses at the same time.

Blue Bus got the route and cut it to one per hour -- who wants to run the risk of that bus not turning up, leaving you stranded in the middle of an estate away from the main routes?

When I need to travel into Radcliffe for work, I play safe and go by taxi.

So here's to the wonders of a de-regulated transport policy, and here's to the far-sighted Alistair Darling who, with the stroke of a pen, demolished integrated transport in the North West.

D Sharples

Tarbet Drive

Breightmet