MOTORWAY bosses have vowed to look into calls to light up a stretch of the M61 where a Westhoughton teenager was killed.

Sean Green, of Whitsundale, Westhoughton, was knocked down and killed while trying to cross the motorway between junction five at Westhoughton and junction six at Horwich last March.

He would have celebrated his 18th birthday tomorrow and his family say they hope lighting up the road would prevent anyone else going through the pain they have experienced.

An inquest in September heard that repeated requests by the police for the Highways Agency to light the motorway had been ignored.

Coroner Jennifer Leeming said she had "serious concerns" about the agency's failure to respond and wrote a letter to bosses calling for action.

A campaign was launched by The Bolton News backing her call and the Highways Agency says it will now review lighting on that stretch.

A spokesman said: "Towards the end of last year the Highways Agency met with Greater Manchester Police and jointly agreed that we would look at lighting and other issues on that stretch of carriageway."

The spokesman said that the investigation, which will culminate in a report, could also look at other safety issues such as boundary fencing.

But he added that it was illegal to be a pedestrian on a motorway.

Sean's uncle, Chris Green, said not a day went by when the family did not feel the pain of Sean's loss.

He said: "There is no question that Sean shouldn't have been on the motorway that night but I believe everybody can all say they have made errors of judgement in their lives.

"Fortunately most people have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and move on, unfortunately Sean was not so lucky and has paid the highest price for his mistake.

"If lighting up this notoriously bad stretch of Motorway allows someone else a second chance to learn from their mistake then it can only be a good thing."

Bolton-west MP Ruth Kelly, who contacted police and Highways Agency bosses over the issue, said: "I will continue to keep in touch with the Highways Agency and look forward to seeing any recommendations they may make and discussing them with constituents."

Bolton South-east MP Dr Brian Iddon and his Bolton North-east counterpart David Crausby had also backed the Bolton News campaign.