RESIDENTS near a well-known Pendle bottle-neck have said more pressure needs to be put on the Government to provide funding for a by-pass.

Plans to build the A56 Colne to Foulridge bypass were halted in 2006 when unelected officials at the North West Regional Assembly decided not to include the scheme in its list of priorities for Government funding.

Since then motorists and people living near Vivary Way and North Valley Road, Colne, say congestion to and from the end of the M65 has got increasingly bad, often leaving traffic at a standstill.

Now in a further blow it has emerged the scheme, which would cost £40million, may have to go back to the drawing board as the proposed route uses a section of the old Colne-Skipton railway, which the SELRAP action group is fighting to get re-opened.

Anne Dobson, 60, of Parker Lane, said: “The traffic on Vivary Way is horrendous, many people have to drive on the road every day to get to and from work so at rush hour times the queue can tail back to the motorway. Something needs to be done about it but it seems to be low down on the list of priorities.”

Doreen Hitchcock, 84, of Parker Lane, said: “It has been congested on here for years, the road is too narrow for the volume of traffic coming from the motorway. I think most people around here would want the by-pass to be built.”

Lyndsey Wilkinson, 27, of Selby Street said: “Colne is seen as the end of the line and the County Council can’t be bothered to fund things that will help the town.”

County Councillor Matthew Tomlinson said: “The A56 Villages By-pass is still a scheme the county council wants to build, but it is not included in the regional funding allocation which covers schemes up to 2019.

"We recognise the road has the potential to solve local problems but we would need something in the region of £40million to make it happen.”