BOLTON’S MPs have thrown their weight behind The Bolton News’ campaign for more cash to fix the town’s crumbling roads.

Yesterday we revealed the borough’s infrastructure needs a £76 million boost to bring it up to an acceptable standard.

And the bill for getting our main road alone on the right track is £13.6 million.

We are calling on the Government to stump up that amount of cash so Bolton can get moving in the right direction.

Dr Brian Iddon, who represents Bolton South East, David Crausby, MP for Bolton North East, and Bolton West’s Ruth Kelly — the former Transport Secretary — have raised concerns about the shocking state of the town’s infrastructure.

Dr Iddon said: “I have spoken to the leader of Bolton Council, Cliff Morris, and he admits there is a major problem and that funding, which could have been used to repair roads, has been spent on other priorities.

“It is the hardest part of politics, making decisions on priorities, but there have been other priorities for Bolton although Cliff now realises that the time is right to spend money on doing something to stop the decline of the roads.”

Mr Crausby agreed that now was the time for Bolton Council to re-assess its priorities.

He added: “It has been, and is, the responsibility of the local authority and they have obviously decided previously that there were other things to spend money on.

“I think it needs to be re-looked at, because the state of the roads is terrible and it is not a good advert for anyone coming into the town. Imagine someone looking to invest, travelling on the roads and hitting potholes everywhere. They would probably think twice about coming here.”

Meanwhile, Ms Kelly has praised the council, who she said were working hard to maintain roads, despite tight budgets and lack of funding.

She said: “I know from talking to constituents that road repairs and maintenance are a real issue locally. I have received assurances that the vast majority of the roads and footpaths in the borough are at an acceptable level.

“This is an ongoing issue locally and one which I will continue to liaise closely with the local authority about on behalf of residents.”

A petition calling for cash to repair our roads is located in The Bolton News’ reception in Churchgate. If you would like a petition at your company, shop or business, call 01204 537259.

andrew.greaves@ theboltonnews.co.uk