NON-emergency ambulances operating in Bolton could be brought into public hands — after the private company currently running them was found to have wrongly claimed £1.5 million in performance-related cash.

The Bolton News understands that the NHS North West Ambulance Service will be bidding for the tender to operate the Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service (NPTS) from next year — after current provider Arriva was forced to pull out of the process.

Arriva Transport Solutions LTD —which currently provides the transport services to Greater Manchester’s 12 clinical commissioning groups — admitted dramatically overstating its performance standards and has had to pay a sum of £1.524 million back to the NHS.

ATSL says it has now paid back the full amount and the firm will not be applying for the tender to run the services when its current contract expires in 2016.

Union bosses have now said that there is a “bid on the table” from the NHS North West Ambulance Service to run the service.

NWAS has so far refused to comment on the matter, but if there is a bid from the public sector — it will be music to the ears of Bolton MP David Crausby, who described the Arriva scandal as “privatisation at its very worst.”

He said: “We want people we can depend on and I think the general view of British people is that we can depend on the National Health Service.

“I don’t think something like this would have happened in the public sector — yes we need the service to be operated efficiently, but I don’t see any reason why the public sector cannot run a service just as efficiently as the private sector.”

He added: “I think events like this demonstrate that the public sector is far more trustworthy and I would very much welcome any bid from the NHS.”

Kevin Lucas, the North West regional organiser for the Unison union, said: “The commissioners who are currently deciding who should provide the Patient Transport Service in future must take note of what Arriva have done.

“There is a bid on the table from the NHS North West Ambulance Service and we call on the commissioners to award them the contract.

“ If Arriva cannot be trusted to run the service why should the public have faith in any other private company? We don’t want private companies running our public services to make a profit — we want an NHS we can trust.”