A councillor has welcomed the announcement a heavily damaged and worn out road is to finally get repaired.

Troy Street, Blackburn, is one of 21 roads to be upgraded in the coming year thanks to money reallocated from the curtailment of the HS2 project.

The road is one of the busiest in the Bastwell and Brookhouse area.

As well as being used by residents it is also used to access a school, a community centre, a mosque and a health centre. 

In the past two years, the road has deteriorated further with major damage across a 30-metre section of the surface.

Local residents had long complained at the state of the road with some calling it the 'worst in Blackburn'.

Bastwell and Daisyfield Councillor Shaukat Hussain said the resurfacing of the road was ‘long overdue’.

He said: “It is fantastic news that we’ve benefited from the reallocated HS2 funding.

“We’ve been requesting for a few roads in our ward to be resurfaced by the highways department.

“The highways department used their asset management strategy to prioritise work based on the current conditions of roadways, with the aim to extending the life of the road network and the overall impact on communities.

“Given that Troy Street leads to a health centre, a community centre, a mosque and school and the adjacent streets it met the criteria.

“I’m delighted we’ve been successful we expect for the work to start around September this year."

Last week it was announced the Department for Transport has handed a £612,000 grant to Blackburn with Darwen Council to maintain the borough’s road network, paid for by the cancellation of the Birmingham to Manchester leg of the high-speed rail link to London.

It is to be used for the resurfacing of roads, cycleways, and pavements to prevent potholes and other road defects from reoccurring.