BUS fares for services in East Lancashire have increased by nearly three times the rate of inflation for some journeys.

But public transport giant Transdev, which operates the majority of routes across the area, has insisted that many day ticket and some weekly pass prices have been frozen.

Blackburn, and Burnley and Pendle seven-day tickets will rise from £13.50 to £14.

Monthly passes will increase from £51 to £54 and £39 to £41 respectively, or around 5.8 per cent.

The daily silver ticket, for East Lancashire usage, has remained frozen - but the daily gold ticket charge has risen from £8.50 to £9.

A Transdev spokesman said: “Like most businesses, we are experiencing external pressures and we have had to review some of our fares. Reductions in Govern-ment funding to bus operators, through cuts to local authority con-cessionary fares schemes and certain grants, in addition to the rise in costs have meant that we are currently operating under tight financial constraints. However, we’re aware that many of our passengers are also feeling the pinch, and so we’ve been keen to absorb these pressures internally as much as possible and have kept any increases as small as we have been able to.”

The company has recently invested in a new fleet of Witch Way buses, linking Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale to Manchester equipped with wifi, alongside revamped 152 service double-deckers, between Preston, Blackburn, Hyndburn and Burnley.

Last autumn a new Ugo system was introduced offering discounted travel for under-19s, with a number of fares held at the same prices after the latest review.