ST HELENS Council has apologised to residents for the current disruption in and around the town centre due to roadworks.

More than £5 million of Government grant is being used to improve access catering for increased traffic attracted by better shopping facilities and more business and retail developments. Council leader Marie Rimmer said: "We are victims of our own success. We have won millions of pounds from Europe and the Government to regenerate the town and create investment and jobs.

"As more and more companies come to the town, with new retail parks, better shopping plus other leisure-related developments, such as the World of Glass, we need a road structure able to cope. Our roads, built two hundred years ago, just can't cope with today's needs. You only have to look at the success of the M62 link road to know what effect a good transport system can have on a local economy." Current schemes are aimed at significant town centre environmental improvements, including the £900,000 Victoria Square project and the Atlas Street area improvement where work will complete the final link in a series of schemes creating a road system which will keep the traffic moving in and around the town. It will also serve the future expansion of the technology campus and college.

Derelict land in the area will become more attractive for inward investment and will be brought back into use for more businesses to create jobs. Improvements to the road system are a vital catalyst in bringing about the regeneration of the area and puts into place the Government's policy of bringing vitality back into town centres.

The council says that disruption has been aggravated by the urgent need to strengthen 100-year-old bridges in College Street and Standish Street. The safety work is to ensure the roads and bridges are up to the task of modern life and to help stimulate economic growth.

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