WORK has now started to clear an estimated 20,000 tonnes of waste from the former Chadwick’s recycling plant.

Bolton Council is expected to spend about £2 million clearing the site in Oakenbottom Road, Breightmet.

But residents are being warned to expect an “extremely bad smell” to permeate the local area as rotting waste is turned over and removed.

The authority will dip into its reserves to fund the project after local residents complained about the state of the site.

The huge amount of waste has remained on the land since Chadwick’s shut down earlier this year.

The clean-up is expected to take up to four months to complete and the council is asking local people to “bear with them” as the smell engulfs the nearby area.

Councillor Nick Peel, Executive Cabinet Member for Environmental Services said: “We have had concerns about this site for a long time, but were unable to take action whilst the company were in operation.

“We are pleased that we are now able to clear the site and remove the waste, which has been a source of concern to local residents.

“The cost of this clearance will be high, but we feel it is worthwhile to utilise money from our reserves, in order to resolve the situation for local people.

“However, we’d like to warn residents that for the period the contractors are removing the waste, there is likely to be an extremely bad odour in the area.

He added: “We apologise in advance and hope that residents will bear with us for the long term gain of having the site cleared.”

30 jobs were lost after S C Chadwicks and Sons Ltd was served with a suspension order by the Environment Agency in February, which prevented the site from bringing in any more waste to the Breightmet site.

The firm, which also had a branch in Leigh, has since been liquidated and the council has acquired the land.

The clearance work will be carried out by specialist contractor Viridor — but the majority of the expected £2 million cost will come in terms of Government landfill tax charges — something Cllr Peel described as “disgusting”.