Narrow lane leaves residents in a jam

A coach gets stuck on Thornley Lane

A campaigning councillor is to have a top-level meeting with Oldham highway chiefs about growing traffic snarl-ups surrounding tiny country lanes at Grotton.

Residents say lorries and coaches cause chaos at least once a week when they jam narrow Thornley Lane.

Earlier this week, a coach completely blocked the lane and had to be guided to safety after causing grid-lock in part of the residential area.

Now Councillor Brian Lord is to meet Oldham Council highway chiefs to try and find a solution to the problems.

Councillor Lord said: “The problem of large vehicles getting stuck on Thornley Lane has been with us for many years.

“Both ends, at Grotton and Knowls Lane in Lees, appear wide enough for large vehicles, but the bit in the middle is both narrow and has two tight bends which long vehicles cannot negotiate.

“If you look at a road map it appears to be OK. I understand this in turn fools sat nav systems.

“ I managed to get a new sign placed at the junction of Thornley Lane and Coverhill Road after a lorry got stuck some years ago,” he said.

“But this is angled towards the Oldham side and therefore not visible to those vehicles coming from Mossley.

“There always was a sign at the junction of the lane with Station Lane. The sign is now hidden in the trees which have grown round it and I will get these cut back.”

He added: “At the very least, I would hope to get a suitable sign visible from the Mossley side and hopefully some advance warning signs on Coverhill Road and Under Lane. Likewise at the Lees end of Knowls Lane .”

Retired builder John Marshall said: “The problems have gone from bad to worse here lately.”

He blamed traffic lights near County End at Lees which could encourage traffic to find a shorter and faster route to Oldham town centre via the residential area.

“The trouble is that on a sat nav our lane looks like an easy option. But it is only when traffic, particularly lorries and coaches, get here that drivers discover they really are on a narrow country lane that becomes narrower the further you drive into it.”

A spokesperson for the Chadderton-based Swans Travel coach company said: “I have no comment to make whatsoever.”