Fifth of Greater Manchester bus bans in Rochdale

Middleton bus station

More than twenty per cent of the total number of people banned from bus stations and services in Greater Manchester are from Rochdale. Thirteen people have been banned from bus travel from Rochdale stations, which includes the station in Middleton.

These people have been banned from the stations for reasons such as verbal abuse of staff and members of the public, drinking alcohol, fighting and general anti-social behaviour.

This follows news from the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority that the success of a new safety initiative, which was responsible for the banning of the anti-socials from Rochdale bus stations, would dictate that security officers would continue to patrol bus services and stations for at least another year.

Uniformed officers work closely with the police to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour on the bus network, and responded to more than 260 incidents in their first nine months on patrol.

Councillor Andrew Fender, Chairman of the Passenger Transport Authority's Policy Committee, said: "The Patrol and Response officers have helped to reassure passengers that they can travel safely on the local bus network.

"The officers target bus services and stations where we think there's a potential for problems to occur, and banned 57 people from bus stations in their first nine months on patrol. I'm sure their continued presence will help to prevent crime, antisocial behaviour and vandalism on bus services and at stations in Greater Manchester."

The security officers board nearly 100 buses each week and spend more than 50 hours patrolling bus stations.