TOWN hall chiefs have still not found a viable location for a controversial new cycle track.

Approval was granted in October, 2016 for Bolton Council to develop a professional cycling track at Leverhulme Park, having earlier abandoned attempts to build it on a playing field in Breightmet.

But, amid a public backlash against building on the popular green space, council bosses agreed not to go ahead with those proposals too and turned their attention to finding an alternative site.

In December that year, it emerged that the Singing Clough in Kearsley was the council’s preferred option — but that plan has also been scrapped due to pollution concerns.

A council spokesman said: “We are continuing to look at a range of options and exploring funding for a potential cycle track in the borough.

“We have considered a number of locations already but none have proved viable so far.”

When the Leverhulme Park plans were announced, hundreds of people signed a petition opposing the development — claiming that it was a ‘waste of money’ at an expected cost of £650,000.

They also said that the new track would cause problems with traffic and anti-social behaviour.

When the Singing Clough emerged as a potential destination for the track in late 2016, Kearsley residents were quick to express concerns over land contamination.

The site was previously used as a landfill and historic reports had found harmful levels of materials including asbestos, arsenic, lead and zinc were present on the land.

Council chiefs said they are aware of the issues and said all appropriate cleansing work will be carried out, but the area has now also been ruled out as a viable option for the track.

Kearsley councillor Liam Irving is disappointed that the track is now unlikely to be built in his ward.

He said: “The reasons that the plan for the Singing Clough was scrapped were that the ground was polluted, and because of the noise and pollution from motorway traffic.

“It’s a sad thing. I was really hoping that we would be able to go ahead with it, but it doesn’t look like it is going to happen here.

“I don’t know where it is going to go now and I have been told that there isn’t a viable site at the moment.

“I know the council looked at Leverhulme Park and a couple of other places.

“But wherever they look there seem to be problems with the site or people don’t want it there.

“It would have been a big deal for Kearsley, so I am disappointed that it’s not happening now.”