A SECOND strike which threatened to get bus travel off to a chaotic New Year start in Bolton, has been called off at the eleventh hour.

Stagecoach Ribble drivers will not be going ahead with a planned one day stoppage on Monday after a pay deal was reached with management.

The company is one of the biggest operators in the Bolton area and hundreds of Bolton travellers were left stranded in Bolton last month when drivers took industrial action over a pay claim.

One picketing driver in Blackburn was killed when he was crushed by a bus entering the Quarry Street depot.

Further one day stoppages were lined up to take place on Monday and on January 11. The dispute was over a pay claim dating back to May last year.

But after a meeting between the company and trade union representatives this week, management made a revised offer which the unions will recommend for acceptance to the workforce.

The planned strike on Monday has been called off and a ballot of the drivers will be held next Wednesday.

But by yesterday afternoon Stagecoach Ribble had still not made a press announcement that the strike was off and the news had not filtered through to the small Horwich-based Blue Bus Company.

Because of the chaos caused in the Astley Bridge area on the last one day strike, Blue Bus was making contingency plans for extra buses if passengers were left stranded at bus stops.

A Stagecoach Ribble spokesman said: "Both the company and the trade union are pleased that this planned disruption to the service has been averted and are hopeful that an agreement will be reached to end the prolonged negotiations over the pay claim."

Services will now operate as normal.

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