EAST Lancashire doesn't have the commuter problems of cities like London and Manchester but that doesn't mean traffic always flows freely.

Morning and evening rush hours bring hold-ups on a number of roads and workers who need to park in and around town centres for long periods are finding life more and more difficult.

Part of the reason for the troubles is that workplaces are now scattered over a wide area and the public transport infrastructure has failed to follow them.

Bus services don't properly serve all the new industrial estates providing employment so people are forced to use their own cars to get to and from the offices, warehouses and manufacturing plants they work in.

One of the biggest growth areas in East Lancashire is Whitebirk and Greenbank straddling the boundaries of Blackburn with Darwen and Hyndburn.

As well as providing employment of all kinds, the area also attracts thousands of people each week to its retail outlets.

Although the area is handy for the motorway, the East Lancashire railway line runs right through it but fails to stop.

Plans to use European cash to build a new £2million train station there makes real sense as an example of making public transport meet people's needs.