TRAFFIC chaos looks set to hit Horwich this summer after transport bosses revealed their plans for the Commonwealth Games.

Thousands of motorists will be forced into their cars by a lack of a frequent, dedicated bus or train services from Bolton town centre to the borough's two Games venues.

Transport bosses have ruled out park-and-ride facilities in the town centre because they say there is not enough room to set one up.

Instead, a park-and-ride facility will be created at Bolton Arena in Horwich and fans, who pay £5 to park, will be able to catch a free bus from there to Rivington.

But that looks set to cause traffic problems as thousands of people will descend on Horwich by car either to watch badminton at the Arena or to park and catch a bus to Rivington.

Road closures around Rivington to enable the cycle road races and mountain biking to take place will add to problems in Horwich.

Even Chris Mulligan, director general of the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE), admitted: "There will be some traffic problems."

Mr Mulligan is advising fans to travel from the town centre to Bolton's two Games venues on existing trains.

But packed trains from Bolton to Horwich Parkway only run every 30 minutes -- a stark contrast to Manchester where a free shuttle bus will transport people to key city venues every five minutes.

And Cllr Guy Harkin, deputy leader for Bolton Council, while insisting the GMPTE's transport strategy is correct, admitted: "Heads will roll if we have got this wrong."

He added: "We believe there is enough capacity on the current train system. The main priorities were Manchester and the area around the stadium where there is a lack of transport provision at present.

"If the trains work to timetable, things should be okay. We've been mindful of avoiding the situation in Atlanta for the Olympic Games when people struggled to get from A to B."

Badminton will be held on each one of the event's 10 days and as many as 100,000 people are likely to attend the free cycling races in Rivington, a number which could shoot up if the weather is good.

On the three days when cycling is held at Rivington, the roads around the Middlebrook Retail Park could come to a standstill. Ged Kelly, Commonwealth Games organiser for Bolton, said: "I'm disappointed there will not be an increase in train services. It was always the Council's wish that that there would frequent transport.

"But we will be working with Manchester 2002 to ensure that ample information is handed out to spectators and much of our work will be encouraging people to make the short journey to Bolton."

Mr Mulligan said: "We've tried to make it as easy as possible for people to access public transport and information about it.

"We're putting in a good network of electronic information points which will allow people to work out travel arrangements.

The GMPTE has set up a hot-line for spectators on 0161 228 7811 or 0870 6082608.