A CAMPAIGN is being mounted to block plans by bus company First to axe a local service.

From next month the company plans to end the 545 service between Bolton and Harwood.

In its place it says it will change the route of the 506 service to compensate and the 506 and 507 services will run every 10 minutes instead of every 15 minutes.

But Cllr Walter Hall has accused the company of giving passengers hardly any notice of a meeting tonight to discuss the changes.

And he says the loss of the 545 service will mean some people on Hough Fold Way will have to walk much further to catch a bus.

"They tried to take this bus off six months ago, but after a petition they kept it on," said Cllr Hall.

"There is going to be a stretch of road where there is no service and it is going to be an inconvenience for quite a few people.

"I am concerned that there has not been enough publicity about this."

First is holding a public meeting at Canon Slade School tonight from 6pm, but the meeting was only advertised two days ago. Cllr Hall added: "I would urge people to make an effort to attend."

First managing director Simon Bennett said the changes to the routes, which are due to come into force on January 26, are necessary to "improve the effectiveness of our Bolton network."

He added: "The purpose of the information meeting is to pass on the details of the changes to our customers and to give them the opportunity to identify any bottlenecks and have all the queries answered.

"Our service managers for these routes will be in attendance."