THE M65 has made a huge difference to travel across East Lancashire in the 14 years since it was fully opened.

Being able to connect directly to the rest of the country’s motorway network via the M61 and M6 has great benefit to businesses based in our 16 towns and has also improved employee mobility in and around the area.

But the eastern end of the M65 has been a problem from the day traffic began using it.

The number of vehicles has meant traffic is rarely able to move at more than walking pace in North Valley Road, Colne.

Now Lancashire County Council are to spend £100,000 between 2012 and 2014 to look at extending the motorway into Yorkshire.

There is a real need to ease congestion but routes could be a problem as In the past 14 years brownfield sites alongside the road have been turned into a retail shopping area complete with a Sainsbury’s supermarket.

Another possible route is the former Colne to Skipton rail line but there are plans to restore that for train travel.

These problems coupled with the budget cuts could mean an M65 extension is many years away.