WARRINGTON Liberal Democrats have objected to council plans to allow Peel Ports to increase traffic passing through Warrington on the Manchester Ship Canal.

Lib Dem councillors believe that the proposed Memorandum of Understanding between Peel Ports and the council does not provide assurance that an increase in shipping would not be majorly disruptive to the town centre road network.

Spokesman Clr Brian Axcell (LD – Appleton) said: “Our road network is already near capacity and external events like motorway closures often create huge problems for traffic flow through the town.

“Extra swing bridge movements could easily create almost permanent gridlock with highly damaging economic and social outcomes for Warrington.”

The agreement would see swing bridge openings throughout the working day, potentially including peak travel times in the morning and evening.

But Peel Ports has yet to give specific details on the scale of the increase in traffic and has promised to investigate the possibility of increasing the number of sailings during off-peak periods.

“The promise of a mere investigation is not nearly good enough” added Clr Axcell.

“We say the ships could just as easily sail through Warrington at our convenience when the roads are quiet. Anything less than this is unacceptable.”