Red-faced council bosses today made a U-turn over ‘Labour red’ bus shelters in Chorley.
Residents were left seeing red after the stops were painted a pillar-box colour as part of a programme to spruce up the town’s shelters.
But residents on the A6 Preston Road were left ‘up in arms’ when they saw a number of the shelters, which were previously green, now red. And they feared it could have been more of a political statement than a visual one.
After being contacted by the Evening Post, Labour council bosses said they would halt the painting of the shelters until they had consulted residents more widely.
Margaret Smith, 70, who lives off Preston Road, said: “The colour is shocking.
“It’s like painting all the radiators in your house red. You wouldn’t want to make them stand out, just like you don’t want to make bus shelters stand out.
“But they have done it anyway.
“People are saying it’s because red is the colour of Chorley Council. It is a Labour council that have come up with this nonsensical colour.
“They wouldn’t have been painted red under the Conservatives.”
Chorley Council own around 80 of the town’s bus shelters. The rest are owned by Lancashire County Council, some by parish councils, and some by advertising agencies.
Mrs Smith said: “The bus stops were shabby, and they needed something doing. But not this. It’s ridiculous.
“We are not in the middle of town. This is the countryside.”
Another resident, who did not wish to be named, said: “Before they (the bus shelters) were a dark green colour.
“The new colour can best be described as pillar box red.
“The previous colour blended in with the surroundings whilst the new can only be described as a blot on the landscape.”
Eileen Whiteford, clerk to Clayton-le-Woods Parish Council, said she had been inundated with complaints.
She said: “We don’t have a very happy parish at the moment.
“We do not support it and we have been in contact with the authorities to suggest they are painted a colour more in keeping with the environment.”
Coun Terry Brown, who oversees the council’s streetscene function, said: “Some of our bus shelters in the borough look a mess so we are working on a programme to improve the condition and appearance of all council-maintained bus shelters across the borough.
“The red colour has been chosen because it is the council’s main corporate colour and has brightened the area up, however, having painted nine we have had people contacting us to say they don’t like it.
“We’re going to listen to what residents are saying and we will consider the colour we use before we paint anymore.”
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