PEOPLE power has persuaded Bolton Council to re-open a road in Horwich town centre.

But council chiefs have warned that they will not always change their minds just because people object to their decisions.

Members of Bolton's planning and environment committee yesterday agreed to re-open Winter Hey Lane to through traffic.

More than 2,000 people objected to the scheme and many of these attended a packed public meeting in Horwich.

Highways chiefs introduced the road closure as a traffic management experiment in June.

But there was instant opposition from local traders who complained that it had lost them business.

The meeting was attended by committee vice chairman Cllr John Byrne who afterwards recommended that the closure order should be revoked.

He said: "From that meeting, it was clear that the opinion of Horwich people was that they were very strongly against it."

Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Mrs Barbara Ronson added: "No matter what is done to this road scheme, there is no way whatsoever it will win the hearts and minds of the people of Horwich and the sooner it is shifted the better."

But councillors warned that they would not always be persuaded by a mass protest to change their minds.

Labour deputy council leader Cllr Guy Harkin said: "We have not changed our minds because there were a lot of objections.

"We did it because they convinced us of the argument that the people of Horwich were being adversely affected."

The road can now re-open immediately because the decision does not need to be rubber-stamped by the full council.

Traffic signals will be put back at the junctions of Winter Hey Lane, Lee Lane and Longworth Road.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.