PEOPLE living along a busy main road through Colne are bracing themselves for traffic gridlock and preparing for an unhappy Christmas after the opening of the M65 extension.

"This is a Christmas present our town could do without," said Councillor Tony Greaves.

The extension to link the M65 with the M61 and M6 is expected to increase traffic through Colne by 15 per cent. The main route through town, North Valley Road, is already heavily congested and campaigners for a Colne-Foulridge by-pass claim the motorway extension will make matters even worse.

Coun Greaves, chairman of Pendle Council's Colne area committee, said: "My message to drivers who are thinking of using the M65 instead of the A59 or M62 is simple. Stay away from Colne because you may be here some time.

"We have been badly let down by Lancashire County Council which dumped the end of a motorway in the town and failed to build the by-pass to take the traffic round instead of through Colne.

"We are now threatened with a further dollop of traffic and there is still no firm date for the by-pass."

He suggested drivers wanting to travel from the M6 into Yorkshire and the North East should use alternative routes.

"Sitting in a traffic jam on North Valley Road is no good for drivers and it's no good for the people of Colne who are being poisoned by the fumes and whose safety is being threatened by the volume of traffic," added Coun Greaves.

"If you are coming to Colne you are very welcome. If you are just passing through choose another route for your own sake and ours."

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