It's very rare that a bus service facing the axe is given an 11th hour reprieve. But that's what happened in January when a service connecting Accrington with Manchester was plucked from the jaws of death - thanks to a government pay-out.
But now the Government's heroic swoop has sparked a row, with Oldham leader Sean Fielding accusing the Government of giving 'mates' rates' to the Tory MPs who intervened to save the service.
At a public meeting, he questioned if Whitehall would do the same for Labour bus routes. James Daly, Bury North MP, has responded by advising Mr Fielding to 'ask himself some questions'.
At the centre of the dispute is the X41 Red Express, which in January was due to become the latest in a long line of routes facing
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