A NUMBER of key roads throughout the Ribble Valley and Pendle will be affected when the Aviva Tour of Britain wheels through on Monday.

Roads in Clitheroe, Colne, Barley, Earby and Nelson will be closed during the day, along with the road between Pendleton and Sabden, and there will be rolling road closures along the 154km route.

In Clitheroe, Woone Lane at the Eshton Terrace junction, Castle Street, King Street, King Lane, Church Street, Church Brow, Wellgate, Albion Street and York Street will be closed between 4am to 1pm.

Buses will only operate from the Clitheroe interchange and passengers are advised that bus stops in Wellgate and Lowergate will not be in use until 1pm.

The road over Pendle Hill, which will be the first King of the Mountain stage, will be shut from 8.30am to 11.30am from the Pendleton junction to the T-junction in the centre of Sabden.

The avenue, along Barley Lane to Four Lane Ends crossroad together with Stoney Bank Road in Earby will be closed from 6am to 3.30pm, although access for residents will be allowed up to 11am.

There will also be no access through Nelson town centre on Manchester Road on the day. Roads in Colne town centre will not be open from 5am to 9pm from Primet Bridge to the finish line by Santander Bank, Market Street and Keighley Road junction.

Colne bus station will be closed, but services 95 and 95A will operate as normal, although there will be no Pendle Green Lane service to Colne town centre, Bunkers Kill or South Valley Drive. Residents and businesses have been asked to adjust their travel arrangements and appointment systems, and reschedule deliveries, to avoid delays and congestion.

A spokesman for Ribble Valley Borough Council said: “Much of the route in Ribble Valley and Pendle will be subject to rolling road closures. This means that the road will close as soon as the first police vehicle goes past, followed by the peloton.

“It will open again once the last police vehicle passes. The rolling road closures could be in place between 20 minutes and an hour depending on how big a distance there is between riders.”