Accrington town centre could be reopened to two-way traffic under plans being considered by the council.

But the leader of Hyndburn Council Miles Parkinson said he was also considering fully pedestrianising the area.

The area is currently semi-pedestrianised, allowing only bus access and stops on Blackburn Road before Warner Street, Abbey Street and the Market Hall.

But council bosses say they will completely rethink the area, if the council gets funding to push ahead with plans for a new bus station.

Next month bosses at Hyndburn Council and Lancashire County Council will submit a funding bid to the government for the new bus station and a decision could be made as soon as December. Coun Parkinson said: "We did look at turning it into a nice open public square but money is not there.

"The car park will make it very easy for people to come right into the town centre to do their shopping.

"The question is do we have Blackburn Road outside the town hall open to two-way traffic or have it fully pedestrianised? At the moment it is neither one thing nor another.

"What we need to find out is what the stakeholders and shopkeepers want and what the people of Accrington and the borough think. I’m not going to impose anything. It’s up to them what they prefer."

If the bid is approved the current station on Church Street would move to the former Kwik Save car park on Crawshaw Street and the old station would be turned into a short-stay car park.

The council said they will then look to consult with traders and stakeholders in the town centre about allowing two-way traffic outside the market hall to help boost trade.

Council leader, Coun Miles Parkinson, said "Should the bid for the bus station be successful we would turn the old bus station into a short stay car park."

He said the site of the new bus station would reduce bus traffic entering the town by Blackburn Road and would instead approach via the Accrington viaduct.

The area was semi-pedestrianised 20 years ago to try and reduce town centre traffic but some say the move has had a negative impact on shops.

Transport bosses halted work on the bus station last year after the government carried out a spending review of all major transport schemes in the country.

It would have included ‘state-of-the-art’ buses, bus stops with live information, higher frequency services, bus priority in congested areas and at traffic signals, and a ‘smart card’ ticketing system. But following the completion of the review, council bosses said the scheme was still high up on their agenda.