Motorway safety review urged after fatal crashes

An urgent safety review of the M65 - including considering whether to reinstate roadside lighting - has been demanded by councillors following a series of serious incidents during the last 12 months.

Mick Strickland, who also works for Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service (LFRS) and has attended road accident scenes, joined his Liberal Democrat colleague Brian Newman in calling for a review at a full meeting of Pendle Council.

They said there had been a "spate" of major incidents on the Lancashire motorway in 2024 and that two people had died.

Strickland said lighting and flooding had been contributing factors in all of the incidents he had attended with LFRS on the M65.

Their demands came after similar motions put forward by councillors in Burnley and Hyndburn.

The Pendle councillors said National Highways was considering removing remaining lighting on the M65.

They also pointed out that flooding was of significant concern on the motorway, particularly on the section through Pendle, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

National Highways, which is in charge of the motorway between junction 1a (Cuerden) and 10 (Burnley) with Lancashire County Council responsible for junction 10 to junction 14 (Colne), said "safety is our top priority".

In a vote, councillors from all sides backed Strickland and Newman's call for Pendle Council to write to National Highways, Lancashire County Council, the Secretary of State for Transport and local MPs.

Their motion called for:

• An urgent review of the general safety of the M65, "given the frequency of accidents"
• Safety improvement assessments including, but not limited to, lighting
• Opposition to any plan that would remove any remaining M65 lighting
• Funding for a feasibility study and investment to bring back lighting to sections of the M65 where it has been removed
• Lancashire County Council to take effective action to mitigate the risk to road-users from flooding

Newman said: "The M65 conjures an image of disaster for people who use it. We have flooding. No lights. It ends abruptly at Colne.

"The road is not fit for purpose."

Strickland, meanwhile, said an urgent review was needed "before we have more fatalities on the M65".

National Highways said it was undertaking a full review of all its routes in the north-west of England this year.

A spokesperson said: "This will include the M65 (junction 1a to junction 10) which should help identify the main issues that relate to collisions that occur on this route.

"This can inform where more detailed investigation or intervention may be needed."

They added it was currently carrying out an assessment, due to be completed in March, "to determine whether the provision of lighting is required".

And they said the review would "take into consideration safety along the route", adding: "Some lighting at junctions is required and will be retained as a matter of course, in any event."

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas to [email protected] and via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.