BUSINESS leaders and politicians want East Lancashire's motorway to be widened - to boost the local economy by half a billion pounds a year.

The move, which they believe will also create thousands of jobs, has come amid fears that the M65 is reaching saturation point.

The East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce has now set up an online petition asking the Highways Agency to widen the parts of the motorway which have two lanes.

It said that bridges and enbankments were designed to accommodate three lanes when the M65 was originally built.

But the Highways Agency said it had no plans to extended the motorway.

And the calls have been opposed by environmentalists Friends of the Earth - a spokesman said: "Wider motorways will simply encourage more drivers and cause an increase in carbon dioxide emissions. The Government's feasibility study should look at trialing reduced speed limits without widening in some places to help cut emissions."

The chamber claimed that if the lanes were not expanded the area would lose out on thousands of jobs and millions of pounds of investment - with other towns and cities with better road networks, such as Manchester, benefitting.

Mike Damms, chief executive of the Chamber of Commerce said, the main priority was to widen the stretch of the M65 between junction four (Darwen) and junction six (Whitebirk).

He added that the campaign was to complement other transport schemes - like improving rail links with Manchester.

Mr Damms said current schemes such as £2million scheme to create more lanes at Whitebirk roundabout would not create extra capacity but would just get traffic off the motorway quicker.

And he said he feared that planning applications for business premises, especially around Whitebirk, could be rejected because of the motorway.

Mr Damms said highway bosses could also consider allowing the hard shoulder to be used at peak times to ease congestion as on the M42 near Birmingham.

He said: "The fundamental fact is that the only significant artery into and out of the central conurbations of East Lancashire is only two lanes at its most critical point.

"This compares most unfavourably with the access arrangements for most half million population communities.

"The key concern is the balance between traffic growth and economic regeneration.

"While the strategic local authorities have targets to contain traffic growth if development sites near to the M65 are refused planning permission as a result of motorway capacity, then it is likely that jobs will go elsewhere - to Manchester or Merseyside."

Coun Martin Smith, executive member for regeneration and economic development of Burnley Council said : "The M65 is now heavily used and if it is going to continue to be an asset for our area and help us to open up new accessible employment sites then a third lane needs to be seriously explored."

Blackburn with Darwen Council leader Coun Colin Rigby said: "The Chamber of Trade is right, it's costing us a lot of money and we are looking at what can be done to improve it. We need an infrastructure in place for the future.

"I'm sure people in Pendle would like to see it extended on from where it ends and through in to Yorkshire because we all have our wish lists."

A Highways Agency spokesman said: "We have not been approached and are not aware of calls to widen it and there are no plans to widen it at this point.

"The newest stretch only opened in 1997 and that was built with foward planning in mind as to what traffic growth would be like in 15 or 20 years. If we thought it was needed we would have built three lanes."

Any formal approach for expansion would be placed on the transport programme and it could be more than 10 years before any action was seen.

Shufkat Razaq, chief executive of Burnley Enterprise business support network, said: "With a new college development in the town the problem of a traffic bottleneck could be made worse if the road network isn't improved.

"From what we know talking to businesses if it was opened up it would be a benefit to everyone."

Greg Pope, Labour MP for Hyndburn, said: "This argument goes back to when it was built when we said two lanes would be a false economy because it would need widening eventually.

"The junction six area around Whitebirk where economic development is planned is in need of remodelling and needs to be six lanes instead of four."

To sign the petition visit www.britishchambers.org.uk.