A VITAL bus route linking Blackburn to Manchester is to change, leaving one commuter at risk of losing her job.

Allison McDermott-Majid from Blackburn relies on the Red Express bus to get her into work and now faces the risk of losing her job when the bus route changes its starting point from Blackburn to Accrington in the near future.

“I struggle to sit for a long time and this bus gets me into Manchester in the quickest time, avoiding rush-hour traffic” explained Ms McDermott-Majid,who gets the 5.15am bus.

“I have ongoing health issues which mean I can be prone to accidents, and an alternative bus or train would mean travelling for too long without access to facilities” she added.

The 52-year-old, who works for Lloyds Banking Group, is now facing the reality that without the bus, she may have to move house or risk losing her job.

“Of course it’s embarrassing to tell everyone about my health issues but people need to know how important the bus is - we bought our house here because it was near the bus stop.”

Despite Ms McDermott-Majid’s concerns, Blackburn Bus Company has assured users that convenient links will continue to run.

“There’ll still be handy connections on to Red Express from Blackburn, with through ticketing available on our frequent, high-quality 6&7 link running every seven minutes from Blackburn with one quick, easy change at Accrington” said Shaun Walmsley, general manager of the company.

Explaining why the company have changed the route, Mr Walmsley continued: “The recently doubled rail service between Blackburn and Manchester is obviously an influence here and it is very difficult for us to compete with trains which have more certainty of a quicker journey time on this route.”