Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner has defended officers’ policing of the M65 – amid a number of fatal incidents and criticism of budget cuts.
Commissioner Clive Grunshaw said Lancashire Police has a dedicated road policing unit tackling speeding and drink driving “as well as attending scenes of serious and fatal collisions”. He said the force also carries out “proactive operation” to target danger drivers.
His comments come after a series of horror crashes on the much-maligned motorway – and talks across several local councils on how safety on the M65 can be improved.
In Pendle, councillors have raised concerns about the loss of lighting, lane designs and flooding problems around concrete central barriers. Retired Lancashire police officer Paul Brooks also waded into the debate saying police traffic patrols had suffered as a result of funding cuts.
Mr Grunshaw said: “Lancashire Constabulary has a road policing unit, which is dedicated to patrolling the county’s roads and dealing with offences such as speeding and drink or drug-driving, as well as attending scenes of serious and fatal collisions.
“Additionally, the force regularly carries out numerous proactive operations targeting those on our roads that put the public at risk.
“Dangerous driving comes up time and time again as a huge concern for our communities, and it is a priority to make our roads even safer for the majority of law-abiding motorists.
“I will continue to work together with the Road Safety Partnership and hold the Chief Constable to account to ensure that road policing, from our motorways to our rural areas, is working to keep people safe.”
Ex-cop Mr Brooks, from Bamber Bridge, claimed today’s motorways are not policed properly because of police force financial pressures. He said today’s Highways Agency officers represent “policing on the cheap” with few real powers. Many speeding drivers simply ignore them, he believes.
Paul Brooks pictured when he was a police officer with Lancashire motorway traffic duties
(Image: Paul Brooks)
However, he also believed the loss of lighting on the M65, “inadequate drainage” and its mix of two and three-lane sections were concerns too.
Mr Brooks spoke after Pendle councillor Mick Strickland, who works for Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service and has attended M65 traffic accidents, helped gain support for a motion calling for no more lights to be removed from the M65 and investment to bring lighting back where it has been removed. Pendle Council bosses will now write to National Highways, Lancashire County Council, the Secretary of State for Transport and local MPs about the issues.
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