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Free bus travel for gingers!
Red heads can now have a free ticket to ride - Wigan's newest transport company is offering free tickets to passengers with red hair.
From next week, those with fiery manes can travel free on routes between Wigan, Warrington, St Helens and Skelmersdale on Strawberry Buses.
Although designed to add a touch of fun to their daily drives, the campaign also hopes to raise awareness of the decline of redheads.
Strawberry claims that research shows red and ginger hair colours will die out inside the next 100 years.
Wigan now has less than two per cent of residents with natural red locks.
Strawberry Bus managing director Oliver Howarth said: "At Strawberry we love everything red, so when we heard about the decline of red-haired people we wanted to do mark the news with our own tribute to redheads."
UK scientists say that racial integration and migration will reduce the number of people with red hair.
The proportion of redheads is about two per cent, apart from in Ireland and Scotland where numbers rise to eight per cent.
People must inherit two specific genes – one from each parent – to have red hair.
Chances are smaller and that's why there are so few redheads.
Strawberry will offer the Redhead promotion until December 15.
Bus drivers will have a colour chart to check passengers qualify.
Dyed red hair will also count and drivers will not seek proof that patrons are natural redheads.
Mr Howarth said: "This is a celebration of Strawberries everywhere."
Strawberry launched its new service last month and provides routes through housing estates and industrial areas not served by larger bus companies.
The company is the brainchild of husband and wife owners, Oliver and Lorraine Howarth.
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Weather for Wigan
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
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