A PETITION signed by thousands of people calling for the resignation of Bolton Council’s leader is expected to be presented at the town hall tonight.

Hundreds of people are set to join a protest prior to the full council meeting tonight, at which the demonstration’s organisers will present a petition asking for Cllr Cliff Morris to step down.

This latest protest follows a rally outside the last council meeting in November, where campaigners expressed their anger over the £300,000 grant awarded to Asons Solicitors and proposed cuts to public services.

Natalie Yates, one of the organisers of the protest, said: “Everything has escalated since the last meeting and I think there is going to be a strong turnout at the protest tonight.

“I am expecting there will be more than 300 people.

“We were in the town centre on Saturday gathering signatures for the petition and I know from the many people I spoke to that people feel really strongly about this.

“People were queuing up to sign the petition because they are really angry about what has happened at the council and they want to be a part of what we are doing.

“If the council had been open and honest about Asons from the start then I don’t think there would be this strength of feeling.”

The protest is due to begin outside the town hall at 6.15pm, with demonstrators then expected to watch the council meeting from the public gallery.

Ms Yates, aged 41, from Darcy Lever, added: “At the meeting in November the council chamber was absolutely rammed. There were people who couldn’t get in and were stood outside following the meeting on The Bolton News’ website. We have all had enough and we want Cllr Morris to resign.”

Councillors forced to defend Asons grant in heated meeting

A spokesman for Cllr Morris said: “He maintains that he has done nothing wrong.

“We have been made aware of the petition and, while there will be some credible signatures on there, there may be some that have been falsified. It is not a concrete process.

“He accepts that there are people who will disagree with him, but he maintains that he has done nothing wrong.”

The council meeting starts at 7pm inside the council chamber, and it the first full council meeting to be broadcast live online.

The meeting, at which Cllr Morris is expected to be questioned by opposition councillors on issues including the Asons grant, will not be broadcast in any other town centre buildings.

Follow live updates on theboltonnews.co.uk this evening