THE BATTLE to reinstate a Bispham bus route has changed up a gear as councillors promised to meet transport chiefs.

Bispham ward councillors Henry Mitchell and Don Clapham said they are planning to meet Blackpool Transport bosses to discuss the axing of the No 2 service earlier this year after residents gave them a 1,500 name petition against the loss.

Coun Mitchell said they would take the petition to Blackpool Transport and discuss what could be done.

"Hopefully some good will come out of it. We have been missing out for quite a while in Bispham. We are basically a retired area round here and we have a lot of elderly people in the flats," he said.

He said without a direct bus pensioners were finding it difficult to get to Poulton and Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

The call for a renewed direct link between Bispham and the hospital came as Blackpool Borough Council announced it is to get £809,225 for a new bus service stopping at the hospital -- but serving the eastern side of the borough.

Dubbed the Lifestyle Line, the service aims to provide a high frequency service between Norcross and Squires Gate via Grange Park and Mereside, also stopping at St Mary's and St George's high schools and Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

The council said the government funding will pay for six buses and help meet the costs of providing the service for three years. Blackpool Transport spokeswoman Liz Esnouf said Bispham residents can still get to the hospital and Poulton by changing at Blackpool bus station.

She said she was "very happy" to talk with Bispham's councillors and traders. "What we need to do is to listen to what is being said and then we need to look at the options that are available."

A service which is not profitable but for which there is social need should not be looked at just from a commercial angle, she said.

"We need to recognise that the funding for services needs to come from somewhere either from the fares, or support funding from the local authorities or possibly from another source," she said.