MOTORISTS have been reassured that work to reduce a stretch of Crompton Way from two lanes to one will cause minimum disruption.

Contractors will start the controversial £55,000 scheme next Monday. Work is expected to take around four weeks.

It will see the busy road reduced to one lane in both directions for a half-mile stretch between its junctions with Tonge Moor Road and Thicketford Road, Bolton.

Cycle lanes will be introduced along with on-street parking bays and pedestrian refuges while the speed limit will be cut from 40mph to 30mph.

Concerned drivers have logged on to The Bolton News website to express their concerns about the scheme and the delays that may be caused by work to alter the road lay-out.

But a Bolton Council spokesman said: "The nature of the work means that we're not anticipating any major problems during the project.

"There will not be any road closures or diversions."

The scheme, which aims to reduce accident rates, was given the go-ahead at a meeting of Bolton Council.

There were 19 accidents on the stretch of road between 2003 and 2006, resulting in 27 casualties, seven of whom were seriously injured and three of whom were children.

Of 140 residents who responded to a questionnaire about the plan, 89 gave it their support.

Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors who voted through the scheme said a similar scheme in Moss Bank Way had slashed the number of accidents. But Conservatives called for other measures to be explored, raising fears drivers would use nearby roads as a rat-run.