CLAIMING the bus was late will soon be no excuse for East Lancashire students trying to get to college lectures on time.

In a pioneering scheme, Runshaw College -- which takes dozens of students from Blackburn and all across East Lancashire -- has bought a selection of mopeds and motorbikes to help youngsters get in on time.

Using a £140,000 grant from the Countryside Agency's Rural Transport Partnership Project, bosses at the Chorley and Leyland-based college have bought eight mopeds, four power-assisted cycles and two pushbikes.

For a nominal fee, the bikes will be hired out to students, who will be given full-training so they can get to school on time.

Some of the cash has also been ploughed into setting up a new bus service for those not wanting to get on their bikes.

The bus will serve the college's catchment area and can be used by students and the public.

The scheme is the first of its kind in the North West and came about after students said they were struggling to get to college.

Head of faculty Claire Foreman said: "We were finding that many students, particularly our adult learners in rural areas, were having real problems with transport to and from college.

"In some instances this was actually preventing people furthering their education, with bus journeys of up to an hour and a half each way because they had to travel via Preston.

"Our aim is to provide an excellent transport service for all our students and remove any barriers to their learning."

Student Karen Wood said she would use the mopeds to help her with her HND in Travel and Tourism.

She said: "With having children going to school and poor public transport, I wouldn't have been able to do the course.

"It would have been impossible. It's going to be a fantastic help having the moped."

Runshaw College, which has sites in Euxton Lane, Chorley, and Langdale Road, Leyland, is one of only 16 in the country to receive the Further Education Beacon of Excellence award and offers a wide range of courses.

It recently completed a £10million investment in upgrading its facilities and last year achieved a 99 per cent A-level pass rate.

But without the right transport, bosses feared students would miss out.

Colin Maddison, the Countryside Agency's regional director for the North West, said: "With the many opportunities on offer from the college, it seemed a great pity that students in the surrounding rural areas were being put off further education by transport difficulties."