A MAJOR transport provider for education and social services in Wirral has gone into administration.

Wirral Community Transport, which operated as a charity, had provided transport services for Wirral Council and local hospitals.

It is understood some former members of the management team have set up a new organisation to take over Wirral Community Transport’s commitments after it called in administrators 10 days ago.

Yesterday, no-one answered at Wirral Community Transport’s Birkenhead offices.

According to the accounts for the year ending March, 2007 – the most recent on record lodged with the Charity Commission – the transport company employed 72 people and had 14 volunteers.

According to the information provided during that year the charity’s income was £1,436,877 while its spending was £1,594,399.

During that year the organisation operated 133,000 trips carrying the equivalent of half a million passengers.

This included over 54,000 with severe mobility difficulties. Their car scheme carrying vulnerable children carried out over 13,500 trips – carrying the equivalent of 130,000 passengers.

They also announced that they had successfully secured a contract to provide transport to hospitals for treatment for renal and oncology patients, and during the period of operation transported 41,000 people.