HUNDREDS of people are planning to march in the town hall and hold a two-minute silence in Victoria Square in protest at Bolton Council’s new roadside memorial policy.

Earlier this week, The Bolton News revealed how the council plans to remove roadside memorials — those left in tribute to car accident victims, for example — 30 days after they are put in place.

Now members of a campaign group set up on the Facebook website by Zena Bate, whose sister, Carla, was killed by a drunk driver in Farnworth in 2004, have got together to take action.

At 12.30pm next Saturday, January 30, the relatives and friends of road crash victims and members of the Facebook group, called the Keep Our Road Side Memorials group, will gather near the Gateway pub in Newport Street before making their way to Victoria Square, laying flowers along the route.

Once in Victoria Square, at 2pm, they will hold a two-minute silence to remember those who have been killed or died on the streets of Bolton.

Organiser Phill MacDougall hopes that up to 400 people will take part in the peaceful protest.

He said: “When I found out about the new policy, it really upset me. I felt upset for the families like Carla’s.

“I waited a couple of days and then decided that I wanted to organise a protest to show how much people are against this.

“We won’t be banging drums or blowing|

whistles.

@We just want to protest and let people know that this has a real effect on the families who have lost people — either in road accidents or who have died on the streets.

“We don’t want everyone to bring flowers because we know that they will need to be cleared.

“We we just want to line the route as a symbol of what we are doing.”

Carla’s mum, Michaela and her sisters, Zena and Selina, will lead the protesters, who have been asked to wear white to symbolise peace.

A spokesman for Bolton Council said: “We understand that this is an emotional subject and not everyone is going to agree with the proposed policy. However, the results of the consultation did show that the majority of people supported it."

andrew.greaves @theboltonnews.co.uk