Burnley MP Mrs Kitty Ussher led the elderly bus passengers to the town hall where they handed in a petition, signed by several hundred people, signalling their dismay at an increase in pensioners' bus fares before 9-30 a.m. After the rush-hour from 9-30 a.m. pensioners can travel for free.

The increase has angered many local pensioners and disabled people who cannot understand why it has been implemented after the Government introduced free local off-peak travel for pensioners.

One angry pensioner said: "Just to get here this morning I had to pay £1. I got my 50p ready to hand over to the driver, because it was a few minutes before 9-30 a.m., but the price I had to pay was doubled. This has happened to me a few times when I've had to unavoidably get the bus early in the morning, like when I had to go to the doctors."

Another pensioner said: "I've been paying for the bus my whole life and was really pleased when the free local travel came in, but it's not fair that the council are using this as an opportunity to make us pay more to travel earlier on in the day."

Kitty Ussher said: "When the Government decided to introduce free off peak travel for pensioners, this was to give elderly people more freedom to travel. What Burnley Council has done goes totally against the spirit of this decision. I call upon Burnley Council to follow the example of other councils in Merseyside and West Lancashire and reverse this unfair decision."