A WASTE management company and Lancashire County Council have joined forces to fund a new cycle track.

Neales Waste Management of Blackburn has contributed £20,000 in landfill tax credits to the scheme, and the council has put in £16,000.

The money will be used to develop the Preston to Chorley section of the National Cycle Network through Cuerden Valley Park, Chorley, by upgrading an old footpath.

The contract for the work will be put out to tender in the next two weeks and work is scheduled to start at the beginning of February. The scheme should be completed by mid-April.

Jim Longbottom, senior park ranger for the Cuerden Valley Park Trust, said: "At present the footpath is in a poor condition and isn't really suitable for walkers, let alone cyclists.

"As well as opening up an important passage through the park, the improvements will vastly improve our access to the area for maintenance purposes."

The landfill tax credit scheme offers firms the chance to direct up to 20 per cent of their annual landfill tax bill into the funding of environmental projects within their local community.

Richard Matthewman, managing director of Neales Waste Management, said: "The choice of Cuerden Valley Park as our first project through the landfill tax credit scheme was fairly straightforward.

"Our landfill site at Clayton Hall Sand Quarry runs adjacent to the boundaries of the park, so what better place to start this kind of work than right on our doorstep."

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