A MAJOR business park which could create 1,600 jobs will be given the go-ahead - but only if strict measures on traffic are met.

Councillors have agreed to let town hall planners approve the sprawling Pollard Moor scheme, on the former Hepworth’s site near Hapton, despite traffic fears.

But officers have imposed 37 conditions to reduce the impact of traffic on Hapton and Padiham.

Developers must build a ‘bus gate’ which bars cars and lorries from entering the site by using Manchester Road in Hapton.

And part-time traffic lights will be installed at busy junction 10 of the M65 and improvements made to signals at the Rosegrove crossroads.

Residents and a prominent county councillor had said the site, which would house businesses and a massive new mental health unit, would turn parts of Hapton and Padiham into a ‘rat-run for HGVs’.

But planning officers attempted to allay their fears, claiming the scheme was “very important” to the area.

A bridge over the Leeds and Liverpool Canal has also been proposed which would link junction nine of the M65 to the site.

At a charged development control committee meeting, Hapton parish councillor Joan Lakeland said: “Our main concerns are traffic problems, particularly through Hapton.

“We believe that there should be no buildings opened before the bridge over the M65 is in full use.”

Coun Jonathan Gilbert, who sits on the development control committee, added: “Phase 1a can be built without the bridge being built.

“As it stands, I have got real problems with this application.”

Coun Andy Tatchell said: “My worry is the economic situation. If we had been asked this two years ago it would not have been a problem.”

A spokesman for Eshton Property told the meeting that the scheme was “strategically important” to Burnley and East Lancashire, and that traffic conditions would be met.

And Burnley Council’s head of planning Sue Graham said: “It is very important that we allow this site to be developed.”