THE bosses of a bus firm stripped of its operator's licence have failed in a bid to get back on the road as a new company.

Accrington Buses Ltd, known locally as Pilkingtons, was stripped of its licence following a public inquiry last June when it was found that several of its buses had maintenance problems.

Since then, a new company has been formed called Pilkingtons Accrington Ltd.

But its application to gain a licence for five single-decker and five double-decker buses was rejected at a hearing conducted by North Western Traffic Commissioner Bever-ley Bell.

Company director John Pilkington said: "I am a little disappointed by the outcome. Since losing our licence we have followed all the Government guidelines. We also have a better recruitment procedure for staff.

"We will be re-applying soon but it could take another two or three months."

During the hearing, it emerged that on the application form for the new licence Mr Pilkington had ticked a box indicating the company had not had a licence revoked.

He said: "I misread the question because I thought it meant if we had had a licence revoked in another area."

A spokesman for the North Western Traffic Commission said: "Having carefully considered all the evidence presented to her, the traffic commissioner decided to refuse the application.

"She noted that John Pilkington, the company director, was disqualified from holding a licence and that disqualification remai-ned in force.

"After consideration she concluded the applicant did not satisfy the requirements and had not displayed conduct befitting an operator."