New average speed cameras will be coming to a major Bolton road plagued by 'idiotic and dangerous driving'.

The new average speed system will be installed on a stretch of Chorley New Road from Tudor Avenue to the junction with Chorley Old Road, replacing the existing cameras.

This comes after long running complaints about dangerous driving, with fatal crashes having happened on the road.

Cllr Richard Silvester, of Queens Park and Central, said: “This is excellent news.

“I actually live on this stretch of Chorley New Road opposite to Queens Park and from my front windows and also when I am walking along the pavement of Chorley New Road, I see some absolutely idiotic and dangerous driving taking place, especially at night whereby drivers are speeding and indeed racing each other.

A police officer carrying out a speed check on Chorley New RoadA police officer carrying out a speed check on Chorley New Road (Image: Newsquest)

“We all know of the tragedy which became upon our former Mayoress Gay Wharton a few years ago when she was crossing Chorley New Road on red lights on the pedestrian crossing adjacent to the main entrance of Queens Park, when she was killed by a boy racer who drove straight through and hit her.”

Mrs Wharton, who served as Mayoress of Bolton in 2014, died in November 2020 after being struck by a racing driver.

Two men were jailed in June the following year for causing death by dangerous driving.

One of them was then jailed again in December last year for dangerous driving on the very same road after his release.

Cllr Silvester said: “That speeding and sheer disregard for the law highlighted what goes on here on a daily basis which puts all road users at risk, and these new average speed cameras when installed will most certainly help and therefore I fully support these measures.”

The new average speed cameras on Chorley New Road are part of Greater Manchester Police’s Safer Camera Project, which aims to replace ageing equipment with newer systems.

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They will work in a similar way to the system that has been in place on the A666 St Peter’s Way since 2018.

They work by calculating how long it takes a vehicle to travel between two set points on a road, measuring between both an entry and an exit camera.

This is then used to calculate average speeds.

The minimum penalty for speeding is at least £100 but can be much higher or even lead to a court summons for the worst kinds of speeding offences.