SUCH a well-used road many of us take for granted, but when was the A59 in East Lancashire built?

Construction of the Clitheroe and Whalley section of the bypass started in 1969 and the section spans just over eight miles.

It was realigned to bypass Clitheroe, Whalley, Langho and go up towards Sawley and through Gisburn.

It was built as a single carriageway despite parliamentary concerns it would be less safe than a dual carriageway.

The work cost roughly £3.4million at the time, roughly £54million in today's money.

Originally it was in the 1949 road plan for Lancashire as a proposed expressway into Yorkshire, before any talks of the M65.

Its East Lancashire stretch is notoriously known for several serious crashes over the years.

Ribble Valley's MP has called on several occasions to introduce road safety improvements to the bypass, particularly near the turn offs at Chatburn and Sawley.

The extension at the time would have saved countless minutes driving through town after town and would have decreased the number of car on the town's roads.

Sections of the A59 in Yorkshire closely follow the routes of Roman roads, some dating back to the Middle Ages as salt roads.