The Highways agency planned closure of the M62 motorway from 9pm on Friday 2nd June caused chaos in Denshaw.
This foreseen decision has been branded the highways agency as shameful by Liberal Democrat Councillor Garth Harkness as they were warned and took limited action

He said:

“The band contest organisers were concerned over the chaos this would cause. I shared and raised those views and we asked for a delay on the motorway closure till 12pm. There is plenty of roadworks and speed restrictions on the M62 with little going on so this shouldn’t be an issue. Oldham council put up additional measures to mitigate the highways agency did nothing. As predicted, they didn’t work and there were huge tailbacks”

As a result angry motorists were abusive to local volunteers who tried to manage the problem

Councillor Garth Harkness added

“They made a decision and left volunteers to deal with the aftermath which is shameful. They should not be expected to put up with abuse because of a decision they made that based on previous issues in Denshaw was never going to work. Thankfully the Police came to help clear up the highways agency’s mess.