BOLTON Council closed a section of one of the only open routes out of Blackrod — for litter picking to take place.

The authority has apologised and admits its timing was “not ideal” with two important roads already shut to allow Network Rail to carry out bridge rebuilding work.

With access to both Station Road and Grimeford Lane currently blocked, residents were shocked to see a lane closure in place in De Havilland Way as they tried to make their way out of Blackrod.

They were even more surprised to realise that the closure — which resulted in long and heavy tailbacks— was to allow the council to collect litter.

Marilyn Bradshaw, who lives in Manchester Road in Blackrod said: “With the Network Rail work going on, this is the only route between Blackrod and the rest of the world.

“There was traffic piled up all the way along the A6 and it was completely solid.

“I spoke to the council and was told that the litter picking was part of a three month schedule and could not be rearranged — for them to say that is simply ludicrous with the other major work going on in the area.”

Network Rail has come in for sustained criticism from local residents and councillors for scheduling the closures of Station Road and Grimeford Lane at the same time — eventually agreeing to postpone the latter project at Grimeford Lane, which will reopen next week.

Blackrod Town Councillor Graham Farrington said: “It is the only road open that we have if we want to leave Blackrod and they pick now to do something like this — it is madness.

“It was chaos on the roads, to even think about doing this with the current traffic conditions is ludicrous.”

A spokesman for Bolton Council said: “We would like to apologise for any inconvenience we have caused commuters.

“The lane closure was only place in off-peak time – from 9.30am to 3.15pm and we had to close the lane to allow the team to remove litter, cut the grass and tidy up the area safely.

“We do understand that there are other road closures in the area due to the Network Rail electrification programme and that the timing of our work was not ideal.

“However, the work took place today as we have a clean-up schedule for major roads we need to get through around the borough. We would like to thank motorists for their patience and again apologise for any inconvenience.”