THE North West is getting a raw deal from the Government because of the closure of the local traffic commissioner's office, says Cllr Derek Bateman, chairman of the North West Regional Association's Transportation Working Group.

The region has not had a traffic commissioner since last December, and now the Government has closed the Greater Manchester office responsible for the North West region.

The commissioner is responsible for granting licences to bus operators and has the power to discipline operators who fail to meet the conditions of licences which have been granted.

The decision means that the North West region now has the largest bus network outside London without its own regulator.

Cllr Bateman, who represents Cheshire County Council, said: "I am simply outraged by this decision which is extremely short-sighted.

"If it is the commissioner in Leeds who is now to oversee our bus services on this side of the Pennines, this is bound to stretch the service too far.

"If vehicle inspections are to be carried out from a base in Leeds, this is bound to mean that there will be fewer inspections in this region.

"This is nothing short of an invitation for cowboy bus operators to cut costs and sacrifice passenger safety for profit, and undermine good and credible bus operators.

"We have said for a long time that the North West is getting a raw deal from the Government.

"This latest decision to close our local commissioner's office created a situation that is simply beyond belief.

"We can only hope that this decision is not enshrined in tablets of stone.

"We have demanded an urgent meeting between ourselves and officers of the Department of Transport and the regional Government office, at which we can show what a potentially dangerous situation this decision could create, and take steps to reverse it as soon as possible."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.