A local authority has gone out to tender for a contractor to undertake a £1.3million highway upgrade at a long-standing traffic bottleneck linked to a major new housing estate.

Blackburn with Darwen Council is asking five firms to submit bids for the Holden Fold/Knowle Lane/Moor Lane junction improvements.

They form the next stage of the Darwen East Development Corridor improvement scheme which aims to help traffic flow.

They include: a reconfigured road layout at the existing Knowle Lane/Moor Lane junction with new residents parking areas on Knowle Lane; and off Moor Lane.

Earlier this year the council submitted a planning application for the scheme.

It will also improve the road layout along Chapels and Goose House Lane and incorporate improvements to drainage, street lighting and road markings, and a new footway along Moor Lane.

The scheme is linked to Vistry Partnerships project to construct 477 homes on 45 acres of land off Holden Fold previously occupied by Darwen Moorland High School.

The work is scheduled to start this summer and will take six months.

Blackburn with Darwen Council highways boss Cllr Quesir Mahmood said: "This is part of our infrastructure improvement plan.

"It is a significant step forward and I look forward to it taking effect."

In December Conservative finance spokesman Cllr Neil Slater warned the authority's executive board that the roads needed for the new estate and other housing developments in Darwen were inadequate.

Darwen East Liberal Democrat local election candidate Mark Davies said: "This junction has been a problem for a while. If they can do something to improve it I'm all for it. It's a good idea."

Conservative regeneration spokesman Cllr Paul Marrow said of the planning application: "We have reservations about whether it will solve these problems."

A report to council colleagues by Cllr Mahmood said: "The council's pre-procured growth framework for procurement of the construction works.

"The framework has five partners with the appropriate experience to deliver the project.

"The successful contractor will be procured through a mini-competition.

"An expression of interest has already been issued to the contractors which has confirmed multiple partners are interested in bidding the opportunity.

"The project will be funded by the council’s Local Transport Plan and secured developers' S106 contributions."

The route from Moor Lane to Knowle Lane and onto Goose House Lane is used by commuters to travel to and from the M65 Junction 4 area.

The agreed layout allows for the later introduction of a mini-roundabout at the junction of Moor Lane and Knowle Lane.