COMMUTERS, pupils and parents doing the school run are experiencing lengthy delays as Moses Gate bridge remains closed for repairs.

Traffic has been diverted from Bolton Road since the bridge was damaged when a water main burst and a railway embankment collapsed last month.

Motorists have had to put up with increased congestion along Plodder Lane and Bradford Road while Network Rail works to repair the bridge.

But the situation has been made worse since the schools went back after the summer holidays.

Parents are facing a struggle to drop off their children at school and get to their place of work on time in the mornings.

And teachers are also having to leave for work much earlier as they battle congestion to make sure they arrive for the start of the school day.

Katie Hague, headteacher at All Saints CE Primary School, in Devon Street, Farnworth, said the closure was having an effect on the running of her school.

She said: “We are managing, but it’s certainly having an impact—for staff particularly and for deliveries.

“It’s less so far as parents are concerned as we are right down the side of it and most parents are walking to school, so it’s not so much families , because they can park up either side and walk.”

Ms Hague said the closure of Bolton Road had also caused confusion for visitors from outside the area.

She said: “An educational psychologist was coming on Tuesday and thought the road was shut and couldn’t get here. If you’re local and know where the road is and where the footpath are, you can park up and it’s just a five minute walk.”

“But I think there’s an impact on people on people living on the roads where the footpaths come from, it’s taking people 20 minutes to turn out of their street.”

Pupils travelling from the south of the borough to schools on the other side of Bolton have also been affected.

David Burton, headteacher at Canon Slade School, in Bradshaw, said: “Buses provided for students by Transport for Greater Manchester had to follow a diversion this morning and may have to for some time. This meant that some students arrived late to school.”

Michelle Smith, who lives in Moses Gate, said the closure was having having a big impact on her routine.

She said: “I have to go to work at Astley Bridge and have to go through Kearsley on to St Peter’s Way, where I’m again hitting road works and congestion. It takes me 50 mins get work instead of 15.

Work on the bridge is expected to be completed by the end of the month.