JUNCTION eight of the M62 will officially open next week - and will finally ease congestion in Warrington after 18 months of improvement work.

Work began on the £32 million interchange in March last year, to widen the motorway to four lanes between junctions eight and nine and provide a new link road to Ikea and Gemini Retail Park.

The official opening ceremony will take place next Tuesday, but motorists have been able to use the eastbound exit slip road since Monday and the westbound exit slip road since yesterday, Wednesday.

Andrew Withington, Highways Agency project manager, said: "The opening of the new junction and link road will make Christmas shopping a whole lot easier for travellers to Gemini Retail Park.

"Motorists have tolerated the road works for many months but the opening of the new junction should bring Christmas cheer to all car and public transport users.

"The real benefit of the new junction, though, is that it will provide direct motorway access to the Omega site and relieve congestion on the motorway and local roads."

Junction eight will ease congestion on Winwick Road and Cromwell Avenue, and will also provide access to the site of the new Omega project, which is set to provide 12,000 jobs over the next 25 years.

David Shelton, director for English Partnerships, said: "The opening of junction eight is an important landmark for the region as a whole and is particularly significant for the development of the Omega site.

"Over the next 25 years, some £1 billion will be invested in developing this brown field site into a world class scheme, providing new jobs and economic prosperity to the north west."

Warrington North MP Helen Jones has urged industry minister Alan Johnson to liaise with Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to ensure that there will be no question of regional planning guidance holding up the Omega development.

She said: "There have been some questions raised as to how regional planning guidance would impact on the development. It was important to ensure that the ministers in the DTI and the Deputy Prime Minister were aware of any possible difficulties.

"It was good to receive the assurance that consideration will be given to these matters before the final version of the guidance is formulated in the new year."