Burnley & Pendle
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Burnley & Pendle is a bus operator running within the boroughs of Burnley and Pendle, and into the surrounding areas including Accrington, Keighley and the high profile express service to Manchester, the X43, branded as "The Witch Way". Burnley & Pendle is a subsidiary of the Transdev Group, but has its roots as a former municipal bus company.
The Burnley, Colne & Nelson Joint Board was set up in 1933 to merge the three municipals of those towns, in 1974, upon Local Government Reorganisation, it was renamed Burnley & Pendle. It was jointly owned by Burnley Council and Pendle Borough Council. In 1988 Stagecoach bought Ribble, and soon started buying up companies in Ribble territory. In 1996 Pendle Council put its share up for sale after much fighting. GM Buses (North) and Preston Bus both put in strong bids, but Stagecoach beat them both. The deal was finished by the end of January. Burnley Council was livid, and stated strongly it would never sell its share.
Stagecoach put up a multi-million pound investment plan for Burnley & Pendle, but Burnley Council could not meet its share unless it cut other council services. It eventually took a massive U-turn and sold its share to Stagecoach.
In November 2001 Stagecoach sold its failing East Lancashire operations to the Blazefield Group. Soon two companies wre formed. What was Burnley & Pendle became Burnley & Pendle while the former Ribble services became Lancashire United. Blazefield has made a number of improvements, including replacing many of the Stagecoach buses - which were relatively young - with new Blazefield-standard buses.
On 4 January 2006 Blazefield was sold to Transdev. Transdev has added a third Lancashire company to its portfolio in the shape of Blackburn Transport.
