RESIDENTS in Little Lever raised fears about land next to their street potentially being sold to travellers at a heated public meeting.

The Little Lever and Darcy Lever area forum meeting, which was Paul Richardson's first public meeting since being elected councillor for the ward, was attended by residents of Bowness Road, which is off Church Street.

An area of land which is off Bowness Road is being put up for sale by Pugh Auctions on Thursday at The Etihad Stadium, home to Manchester City Football Club.

Residents said at the meeting that they had spoken to travellers, who said they were planning on buying the 13 acres of land, which will be put up for sale for between £40,000 and £50,000.

They said that, if the land were to be bought by travellers, they could bring caravans and farm animals to the site, which could make Bowness Road severely congested.

However, Little Lever and Darcy Lever councillors insisted that any such move would only happen if planning permission were granted and that bidders could not legally be prevented from buying land.

Some residents accused the council of not fighting their corner, while the council insisted it would look into their concerns and would assess the options once the auction had taken place.

Other issues discussed at the meeting included dog fouling in the area.

The meeting took place at Christ Church in Mytham Road, Little Lever.