EVERYONE agrees that Bolton's roads have been neglected over the last few years so it might appear somewhat churlish to criticise just as much needed improvement work actually begins.

But think about it. The town's roads decay and nothing is done for years because of lack of cash and then suddenly, like waiting for buses, two improvement schemes worth £350,000 come along together.

And to make matters worse the work will start just as huge volumes of extra traffic hits the roads as the school runs start up again.

Surely it is not beyond the powers that be to arrange this for a different time of year and for the schemes to start at different times as the road chaos they will undoubtedly cause will increase driver frustration already at fever pitch because of other road works.

These roads are all well used by traffic, especially during the rush hours, and the work will cause severe chaos.

But looking on the bright side - at least those roads will be smooth with no pot holes when the work is finally finished.