A FREIGHT depot and yard could soon be used as a base for rail-replacement buses and staff.

Contract Services (Lancashire) Ltd has submitted a planning application to use a site at Lodge Bank, in Horwich as a bus depot.

The company supplies temporary drivers to national transport companies, as well as personnel who redirect passengers to Arriva’s rail replacement buses.

It is now proposing to transfer its co-ordinators and vehicles from Atherton to Lodge Bank, due to its closer motorway links.

A statement submitted with the proposals says the application “demonstrates the economic benefits to be derived both as a service within the Manchester region and also as a local employment opportunity.”

And it adds that the proposal is “wholly consistent” with Bolton Council’s planning policy.

Negotiations to buy the half-acre site from logistics company CBI Freight (UK) — a logistics company providing transport services in north west England and Ireland — are ongoing