QUESTIONS have been asked about overgrown land on the outskirts of Westhoughton — where a restaurant was due to be built 16 years ago.

The land is located on the A6 Manchester Road just to the west of Chequerbent Roundabout and town councillors have received complaints about the state of the site, which is currently fenced off.

Developers received outline planning permission to construct a single-storey restaurant in 2001 but no work has been carried out on the site since then.

Cllr David Wilkinson, who sits on Westhoughton Town Council, said: “The site has just been left ever since it was bought from the Highways Agency, which was probably about 17 or 18 years ago. When the land was sold it was subject to a planning application in 2001, which did get permission. It was only outline permission for a single-storey restaurant. So there is historical permission.”

The owner of the site is unknown and it is not clear what plans there are for the area.

But Cllr Wilkinson said he wants to see the land tidied up as it is one of the first parts of Westhoughton drivers see when entering the town. He said: “It has got a fence around it. We just want to get something done to it and get it tidied up. I always thought it was a strange place to put a development.

“Eventually this little piece of land will become like the land on the roundabout. There is an argument to just let it grow and let nature take over, but it is in that period at the moment when it looks a bit scruffy.”

Efforts are being made to identify the site owner.