TWO bus services - due to be axed because of falling passenger numbers - have been reprieved.

The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority has agreed to fund replacement 553 and 559 services after bus operators, First, said it would stop running the routes next month.

The services will run from Monday to Saturday, and will also include the route currently covered by the 554 service, which is also being dropped by First.

The proposed cuts sparked protests from residents who claimed that the services were a vital lifeline for them and that they would be left stranded without them. The new services will follow slightly amended routes and a new timetable has been drawn up.

The new 559 service will run between Bolton and Hindley, taking in Willows Lane and Hulton Lane. The 553 service will run between Bolton and Boothstown with the new route including Willow Lane, Deane Church Lane, Morris Green Lane, Sapling Road and St Helen's Road.

The 554 will run from Bolton to the Trafford Centre via Farnworth, Little Hulton, Walkden, Worsley and Eccles.

Combined, the 559 and 553 services will provide two buses an hour along Willow Lane and an hourly service on Hulton Lane.

Cllr Nick Peel, Bolton Council's representative on the GMPTE, said: "Once again we have had to step in with public funds to make sure people have access to a basic bus service.

"The routes will give thousands of Bolton residents, many of whom do not have a car, access to a decent transport service.

"Having said that, I am extremely disappointed at First's withdrawal of three major bus routes, which would have left many communities completely isolated."