CONTROVERSIAL plans to remove lights from the end of the M65 are set to be re-examined, the Lancashire Telegraph can reveal.

After being given nearly £20 million of government cash, county council transport bosses will again look at plans to remove the columns as part of work to replace crash barriers between junctions 10 and 14.

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The Telegraph has campaigned to not only preserve the lights along the motorway, but convince road chiefs to switch them back on during the hours of darkness.

Cllr John Fillis, Lancashire’s cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “The barriers between junction 10 and 14 of the M65 must be replaced to ensure they meet new safety standards.

“While this funding does not cover the full cost, it means we now have an opportunity to look again at the existing proposals which would see the street lighting removed.”

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin confirmed Lancashire was set to share in a £275 million roads maintenance programme handout.

Around £5.1 million will be used to replace the steel central reservation with concrete barriers.

Another £14.8 million will pay for upgrades to street lighting across the county, with Cllr Fillis suggesting old lamps could be replaced with more modern LED illumination, where possible.

He added: “Our transport infrastructure is vital to Lancashire’s economy and I’m grateful to our officers for the strong bids which have secured this extra funding.”

Conservative group leader County Cllr Geoff Driver also supported the announcement.

He said: “We welcome the investment from the government for these projects, with the allocation for the M65 barriers upgrade essentially paying for the scheme outright which would otherwise have come from the county budget.”

Pendle West Tory county councillor Christian Wakeford had called on the Labour-run authority to reconsider plans to remove the lights.

Reservations were also expressed by coroner Michael Singleton over the removal of the lights between junctions seven and 10 of the M65, in the wake of the death of Mark Burgess.

Mr Singleton’s observations were echoed by the families of Mohammed and Mazafer Iqbal, who lost their lives on the M65 in 2014 and Lancashire Police are also concerned about the route remaining in darkness.