RESIDENTS have reacted angrily to plans to keep rubble from demolished buildings on the Horwich Loco Works site.

An application has been made by Urban Quarry Ltd to convert what is currently an open storage unit on the Loco Works site into a special 'waste transfer station.'

People living nearby have raised a host of concerns about the planned development, with the risk of potential asbestos remaining in the industrial buildings a chief concern.

Urban Quarry Ltd says the works are regulated by the Environment Agency and that care is taken to ensure the process is safe and correct.

Similar plans for the waste transfer station were rejected last year and Horwich Town Councillors again expressed concerns at a council meeting. Cllr Ken Denton said: "I objected to this application last time and I will again because I know exactly what happens with these things. Things get covered in white dust every day and I imagine there will be lots of complaints what with all the new houses that will be built on the estate."

Craig Rotherham, representing the community action group Horwich First, who are being consulted on the development also spoke at the meeting.

He said: “Everybody knows there is asbestos in the fabric of these buildings and it is worrying that they are going to take this material and mash it up. The rubble will have asbestos in it and they will be breaking it up on the site — even one particle of asbestos can cause cancer.”

Cllr Christine Root said the town council were “well aware” of the potential risks, adding: “We know there are important issues we need to discuss — we will not allow this to have an effect on the health of people in Horwich.”

The station, if built, would be used to deal with waste produced from the demolition of the first of the former Loco Works buildings, which are set to be pulled down to make room for a 1700-house development on the site.

Plans for the huge Rivington Chase estate, put forward by Horwich Vision, were given the green light by Bolton Council back in September.

The developers held a meeting earlier this month to discuss their proposals to pull down the first of the Loco Works buildings — with two structures, numbered four and 11, expected to be pulled down within six months.

Ian Webb, the owner of The Urban Quarry Ltd said: "This is a small operation being run in conjunction with the demolition of the units on the Loco Works site for the foreseeable future.

"We are regulated by the Environment Agency, so it is paramount that every care is taken to make sure the process is carried out safely and correctly."

The councillors voted to recommend that plans for the waste transfer station are rejected.