Riddle of the little black box is solved

The pole near the Oldham road junction at Denshaw

PUZZLED locals in Denshaw have been reassured they’re not being spied on.

Residents raised concerns around the appearance of a pole at the corner of the Denshaw crossroads between roads leading to Oldham and Newhey., on which a black, solar-powered box was installed last week

Alan Roughley, a former Saddleworth and Oldham councillor and chairman of Denshaw Community Association, said:” There is no label on the pole, no camera lens you can see and no indication as to what it is doing there — but clearly it is sensing something. Oldham Council Highways deny all knowledge, but it is a hazard, being in the middle of the pavement. Does anybody have a clue what is going on?”

Almost a year ago a similar box was isntalled on a pole on the verge at Oldham Road, near Grains Bar.

But an answer came from Transport for Greater Manchester. The boxes are part of a region-wide network and are solar powered Bluetooth units.

“Most of our sensors are on traffic signals but in places where there are no signals, we have to install a pole.”

The sensors record bus journey times by picking up transmissions from individual buses. Bluetooth receivers operate only over very short distances.