A CONTROVERSIAL bus lane will remain in place, a year after councillors looked at getting rid of it.

Councillors had proposed suspending the lane, in Bolton Road, but the Labour Party blocked the move and called for further consultation before a decision was made.

This week, 12 months after the initial meeting, Church ward councillor Jackie Harris asked whether there had been any update on the situation.

But, Cllr Alan Quinn, cabinet member for the environment, revealed that the council would not be in a position to decide on the bus lane's future for another 18 months.

He said the lane, which is in three parts along the A58 between Grange Road and Bury Bridge, would be considered as part of traffic modelling being undertaken by Transport for Greater Manchester ahead of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework being revealed.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Harris said: "The congestion the bus lanes cause on Bolton Road at peak times is a nightmare.

"Very few buses use it and the traffic stacks up all the way back to Seddons Farm as a result, and it cannot move freely.

"We have been asking for it to be suspended as a trial for 18 months, but we are just getting fobbed off. They keep delaying it.

"There was another bus lane on Rochdale Road coming from the M66. It was suspended for a year or 18 months and then it was decided that it was no longer used.

"Why could they not do the same with this?"

Cllr Harris added that she believed the ideal solution would be to suspend the lane to see whether it reduced pollution in the area.

Last month, it was revealed that the roads around Bolton Road and Bury Bridge were among the most polluted in Greater Manchester.