£1.5 MILLION of taxpayers' money has already been spent on the proposed £50m East Lancashire bus lane which could be scrapped this week.

The 50m Pennine Reach project is widely expected to be axed after Chancellor George Osborne unveils his drastic spending cuts on Wednesday.

Work has already been stopped on the project, which dates back to 2005, after the coalition Government warned local authorities not to spend any more money on it.

Now the Lancashire Telegraph has learned councils have already spent more than £1.4million on planning, consultations, traffic studies and preparing the ‘business case’ for the previous Labour government.

Blackburn with Darwen Council has spent £857,420 while Lancashire County Council spent £571,613, according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act.

The county council has also spent £121,436 on redevelopment plans for Accrington bus station, which is also part of the Pennine Reach scheme but developed independently.

Pennine Reach would see a bus lane linking Blackburn and Darwen on the A666, extending through Accrington and Great Harwood.

County transport chief Malcolm Barron said the plans could be resubmitted at a later date.

Coun Andy Kay, Labour resources boss for Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, added: “For the government it’s all about big numbers. What it’s already cost local councils is not an issue.”