A 51-YEAR-OLD man has been fined after he admitted calling his elderly neighbours ‘freaks’ as they walked down a street in Halliwell.

Malcolm Morris was walking his Staffordshire bull terrier down Shepherd Cross Street in Halliwell when he spotted Christopher and Elizabeth Hindle, with who he had had a falling out in the past.

Bolton Magistrates Court heard how Morris, of Constable Close, Bolton, began shouting at the pair and shaking his fist, though he denied making the hand gestures.

After the Hindles called the police to say they felt ‘harassed, alarmed and distressed’, Morris was taken to the police station and admitted the crime.

He was given a 12 month conditional discharge, and fined £85 for costs and a £15 discharge.