RESIDENTS angered when a neighbour blocked a canalside path behind their homes are now bidding to get it recognised as a public right of way.

Planning officers from Bolton Council have ordered Susan Cockroft to restore the land alongside the Bolton and Bury Canal in Little Lever to its original state after she closed off the path and dug up earth to extend her garden.

She had bought the land behind the back garden of her home and of two next door neighbours in Ascot Road from British Waterways.

Neighbours say she began digging up the land in March last year and even installed drains.

They complained to the council that the work was unauthorised and left no gap between the garden and the water's edge.

Mrs Cockcroft later applied for retrospective planning permission to change the use of the land.

Councillors this month rejected her bid but Mrs Cockroft could still appeal.

There is still no clear passage across the site for walkers. Neighbours are applying to the council for the walkway to be recognised as a public right of way.

To succeed, they must prove the public has been able to access it for at least 20 years.

Next-door neighbour Eileen Hills said children and people walking their dogs had been forced to stop using the path.

She said: "British Waterways said there had to be 1.5 metres left between the land and the canal but the work has been taken right down to the water's edge.

"The canalside has been open ever since the canal was built nearly 200 years ago and it should stay open for everyone," said Mrs Hills.

Planning committee chairman and local councillor Sean Hornby is helping residents with their "right of way" application.

He said: "This was a beautiful piece of land which I believe should remain available for the benefit of the whole of the community."

British Waterways declined to comment.