MORE signs are to be put up in a bid to help confused motorists struggling to cope with Blackburn's new orbital route.

Police said the public needed to be more informed of the new route after a series of near-misses and a minor accident on the first day of the orbital scheme, which reverses traffic flows on several important roads around the town centre.

Blackburn with Darwen Council -- which admitted some areas were not adequately signed yesterday -- also came under fire amid claims that staff were not on hand to deal with teething problems during the morning rush hour.

But officials insisted that staff from the highways, traffic and signalling sections were on duty at junctions and Ian Richardson of the highways department said a team of 12 was deployed to major roads, such as Freckleton Street, Byrom Street and Canterbury Street, in anticipation of problems.

Councillor Ashley Whalley, executive member for regeneration, said it would take motorists time to adjust to the changes.

He said: "There were a few cars going the wrong way on Monday morning, Freckleton Street is a clear case where people have to get used to turning right instead of left, but people will get used to it. There are clear signs but we accept that there need to be extra signs and officers are on with that now.

"In the long term though, it will be of massive benefit."

Mr Richardson said: "We were there in the morning peak time and again last night at peak time, helping out and making sure everything went OK.

"Not all of them had yellow jackets on and may not have been seen. We were there from 7am-10am, with some staying longer."

But Ron O'Keeffe, president of Blackburn Chamber of Trade, said he saw no sign of the workers.

He said: "Yesterday I was stood on King Street from 8am until well after 9am and there was nobody from Blackburn Council. It was about 9.15am when some contractors came to help out the police to stop traffic turning down Byron Street.

"The Chamber of Trade is in favour of the new route, and happy with its shape, but I was very disappointed that nobody was there to see the teething problems.

"If people from the council were there, I certainly didn't see them and neither did the motorists. We knew there were going to be problems on the first day, and the council should have had a high-visible approach.

"It was very badly managed."

Officers from Accrington Road Policing Unit monitored the situation during the rush hour on Monday morning, stopping drivers taking wrong turnings.

Sergeant Keith Jackson said: "There were initial problems regarding the signs and the road markings and there is a need for more information to be given to the public about the changes.

"It will take time for people to get used to it. We had a number of near-misses reported to us on Monday morning, which although not unusual for a a major road change, was too high a number."