A BOLTON councillor will feature on a television programme which looks at the problem of traffic congestion in the North-west.

Cllr John Walsh, whose ward is in Astley Bridge, argues on BBC 2's North Westminster that congestion charges for motorists using town and city centres in the Greater Manchester area are very much on the agenda.

Cllr Walsh, who is also the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Bury North, makes his comments following the publication of a document which asks whether the regeneration of the region is threatened by gridlock on our roads.

He also claims that a developer pulled out of Bury, because he was worried about the threat of making motorists pay for busy roads.

The leader of Bury Council, Labour's Derek Bowden, says there are a lot of options which can be considered before congestion charges would be introduced and says he is not aware of any developer leaving the town because of the threat.

In the programme, which is being screened at 1pm tomorrow, Ralph Blunson reports on the launch of the document and asks whether the Government is really tackling the problem.

Jim Hancock, the BBC North-west's political editor, will be talking in the studio to three politicians about transport in the region.