Motor bus operation in the Rossendale Valley boroughs of Haslingden and Rawtenstall dates back to 1907. Two bus corporations formed at that time to serve the area and in 1968 combined to form Rossendale Joint Transport Committee (RJTC), with a total of 55 vehicles adopting Rawtenstall's maroon and cream livery. Under the terms of the Transport Act 1985, bus deregulation prompted the establishment of Rossendale Transport Ltd in 1986, an arm's-length legal identity that was now obliged to face competition. The company took the opportunity to expand beyond its traditional territory and did so with success, opening a second depot in Rochdale in 1990. The resulting stability attracted attention from the big groups that had arisen in the aftermath of deregulation, but Rossendale Council's intention to sell the company to one of them in 2009 met with resistance. In the ensuing years, a rebrand with a new name, Rosso, was implemented, with a new livery and new low-floor buses. With more than 180 high quality photographs, this book covers the last ten years of independent Rossendale and Rosso operations between 2007 and 2017, after which Rossendale Council sold the company to Transdev.
