WORKMEN have discovered a bridge made of gravestones at the heart of the worst accident black-spot on Lancashire's motorways.

The bridge, which takes the M6 motorway over the A49 at Cuerden, is close to where the M65 meets the M6 and M61.

The discovery of the tombstones, dating back to the 19th century, came while the bridge was being refurbished as part of a £20.6million improvement of M6 bridges between Shevington and Walton Summit.

But the church has refused to be drawn on whether there could be a link between the headstones and the high number of accidents at the site.

A spokesman for the Blackburn diocese said: "It seems very disrespectful to use headstones, especially with the inscriptions face down.

"If they do not know where they have come from, it would be appropriate to make attempts to find out.

"There are very strict rules surrounding the movement of headstones. Permission to move them has to be obtained from the church.

Cannon Roy McCullough, based at St Leonard, Walton-Le-Dale, regularly passes underneath the bridge and can remember it being built.

He said: "You cannot just move a stone from a church yard. You have to get legal permission from the chancellor of the diocese.

"It is hard enough to put a stone into a church yard, never mind taking one out."

The Rev Kevin Logan, of Christ Church, Accrington, said: "It does sound, on the face of it, to be quite shocking, but it could have been done in an official way and with the consent of the families.

"Or there were no families left to make any representations."

A spokesman for Lancashire Motorway Police, based at nearby Samlesbury, said: "The M6 at Cuerden is the primary hotspot on the Lancashire motorway network, because there are two motorways merging in that area.

"It has always been a particularly bad spot for accidents, ever since the motorway was built."

From January 2000 to December 2000 there were 28 accidents in the immediate vicinity of the bridge--one of which was fatal.

Workmen at the sit had complained of a chill in the air, but could not put their finger on why.

Highways Agency Project Manager Nick Moreton said: "Engineers who removed the stone facing found that it was made of old gravestones.

"The inscriptions faced inwards so that motorists would have no clue as to their origins.

"We were very surprised by the discovery. We tried to trace the source of the stone, but couldn't -- it could have been a deconsecrated churchyard anywhere in the country.

"With the gravestones having been broken into small pieces and with no trace of the source, we feel the most appropriate thing to do is to put the stone back when the renovation is completed.

"Although we have worked at night on this project, none of the workforce has reported any ghostly sightings -- it has been cold, but I think you could expect that."

"We have tried to work out the origin of the stones, but without success. We are quite confident that the stones will have come from a legitimate source.

"We are going to be putting them back as they were found."