A CALL has been made for more Government cash to improve a town’s roads after it was ranked the worst in the country for jams in a report.

Accrington was named in a recent report by the National Infrastructure Commission, and councillors have now resolved to address the issue.

Speaking at Hyndburn’s full council meeting on Thursday, Cllr Noordad Aziz put forward a motion to highlight issues in the borough by writing to the Department of Transport and Transport for the North.

He said: “Accrington is the first non-city on the list and it saddens me that Lancashire County Council and Hyndburn Borough Council haven’t picked up on this.

“Congestion is a massive issue and anyone trying to travel along Whalley Road can testify to this. It is an absolute nightmare.

“There are so many places across the borough that cannot cope with the volume of traffic and we need to be a bit bolder in requesting a solution.”

Councillors unanimously voted to back Cllr Aziz's motion calling for more cash to tackle the problem.

Councillors also said that a lack of funding for roads in the area was having a detrimental effect on the town as a whole.

The motion outlined the re-establishment of the Skipton-to-Colne rail line, the expansion of the M65 linking into Yorkshire and an upgrade of the A56 as the most important areas where changes should be made.

MP Graham Jones has previously spoken out, saying anyone trying to travel to and from Clayton-le-Moors and north and south across Accrington will know the ‘dire situation’ at present on the roads.

He said: “There are also many places in Altham and Oswaldtwistle that simply cannot cope with the current volume of traffic.

“This is not a failure of investment but a failure of policy.”

He continued: “We have had a new bus station built in Accrington but, still, bus usage is lacking due to a chronic lack of investment in our county.

“The Transport Secretary keeps telling me in the House of Commons that investment in Northern transport is yielding results.

“Motorists trapped on a daily basis on our local roads would laugh at such claims.

“Increasingly it seems that this investment goes to large cities, with places such as Accrington and Clayton down the list of priorities for investment.”

He pledged to raise the issue with Transport Minister Jesse Norman.