PARTINGTON resident Roger Chapman, who has volunteered as a driver for Manchester Community Transport (MCT) for the past 16 years, has decided to retire.

Roger, who was previously a volunteer driver for Partington and Cadishead Transport (PACT), has clocked up over a quarter of a million passenger trips over the years. He mainly takes schoolchildren from Partington to schools in Lymm and Little Bollington, Cheshire.

Roger volunteering as a driver has been of enormous benefit to the people of Partington, especially in keeping the costs of transport to a minimum., said Nigel McKinney the Managing Director of MCT.

He said “Transport is expensive, fuel, insurance, maintenance and the cost of the bus is not cheap. Volunteer drivers like Roger pass the savings directly onto the passengers and in this case support local schoolchildren.

"What Roger has achieved in nothing short of remarkable.”

Roger along with his colleague Ray Scott, a part time paid driver, who has also decided to retire at the end of the school term in July, closes the final chapter on a valuable service for Partington residents.

Nigel added “The cost of the Partington School services are heavily subsidised by MCT and losing two valuable members of our team means MCT can no longer operate the service as the subsidy is far too high for us to sustain.”

MCT wrote to all parents, the schools, transport authorities and the councils in February of this year informing them of the decision to withdraw the service, with a view that this will give parents plenty of time to organise alternative arrangements in time for the new school year in September.

The Partington School service was fully funded by fares revenue from parents and MCT, who received no funding from Transport for Greater Manchester, Trafford Council, Cheshire East Council or the schools.

Nigel McKinney added “Although disappointing, it is fully understandable that Roger and Ray have decided to retire. Everyone at MCT, and I am sure all residents of Partington, would like to say a big thank you to both drivers, they are literally irreplaceable.”