BURY'S newly appointed access officer has been boosting international relations with Japan.

Judith Irving, who works for the Bury and District Disabled Advisory Council (BADDAC), was called to demonstrate the benefits of Manchester's low floor buses to a group of 16 Japanese visitors.

The low floor bus scheme is a joint initiative between BADDAC and the Greater Manchester Transport's Resource Unit.

Judith, who is co-ordinating the project, explained to the visitors how Japan could benefit from disabled facilities already being used in Bury.

She said: "The aim is promote these low floor buses in a positive light and to build the confidence of the disabled people who use them.

"It's the small things that make riding the bus hard. Like for example the driver handing the ticket to the disabled person can make all the difference."

As the project develops, disabled people will offer training to drivers on the best way to assist disabled people travelling by bus.

Judith said: "They were just so hungry for knowledge about access and disability issues, and were really impressed that disabled people were going to be involved in the training.

"They were also really impressed with how the bus works and the attitude of strict independence of disabled people here.

"They'll be taking the ideas back to Japan to see how they could be used by their own transport authority."

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