Bolton council has become the first authority to introduce a ban on roadside tributes after they have been in-situ for 30 days.

When the idea was mooted two years ago, bereaved families marched through Bolton town centre to object to the removal of roadside memorials. Many of those marching wore t-shirts with photographs of their loved ones. They tied white ribbons to the railings at Bolton town hall and placed floral tributes there.

Protester Trinity Serkis gave a short speech about the campaign, which opposes the move to remove memorials placed at the scene of road accidents after 30 days.

Speaking at the time, she said: "We are asking the council to review this by-law and realise that it is the roads and the junctions that are dangerous, not the floral tributes."

Bolton is among the first councils in England to implement a by-law that will remove roadside tributes after 30 days.

The council insists it is needed for safety reasons and will be brought in in a 'sensitive' way.

The council and police say they will explain the policy to families of loved ones who have died in road accidents.

Memorials will be removed after the 30-day limit and replaced with notices warning that they represent an 'immediate safety hazard' to pedestrians and motorists.

Non-perishable items – such as teddy bears and photographs – will be placed into storage for 90 days at Bolton crematorium until they are reclaimed.

Perishable items like flowers and paper will be recycled.

Existing tributes will also be removed if the relatives who left them cannot be found. It is estimated there are currently around 20 roadside memorials at sites across Bolton, some of which date back more than a decade. 

Flowers and other items can still be left on anniversaries, but would be subject to the same 30-day time limit.

Council chiefs said the majority of people they had surveyed supported the policy.

A permanent memorial for people killed in road crashes opened at Queen's Park in Bolton in April, including a tree of remembrance.

The council said it was worried that families and friends of road-death victims were putting themselves at risk by placing items at busy junctions or on railings.

Councillor Akhtar Zaman told the Manchester Evening News: "Council staff have worked closely with police family liaison officers, who are willing to communicate our policy to families in a sensitive way.

"As part of that work, we have produced an insert for the information pack they give to grieving families outlining our policy and how we will implement it in close cooperation with them.

"Our police colleagues are also happy to liaise with families directly ahead of any tributes being removed. We are going to apply the policy in the most sensitive way possible."

Inspector Paul Rowe, of Greater Manchester Police, said: "At all points in the development of the policy, the council has sought views and listened to what the public and key groups had to say, responding as appropriate."

But Michaela Bate, whose daughter, Carla, 13, was killed by a drink driver in Farnworth, Bolton, in 2004, criticised the move as 'heartless'.

She said: "The council say that they are a distraction and dangerous, but what about huge billboards at roadsides?"