A SHOWMAN has withdrawn a threat to move members of his fairground community on to green belt land.

Henry Hill had threatened to defy Bolton Council planners by moving six caravans on to the land next to the Firwood Industrial Estate, off Thicketford Road, Top o'th' Brow.

Mr Hill, who owns the land, had plans to move 30 mobile homes and trailers to the site refused by council planners in April.

Residents complained it would ruin land which attracted wildlife, while councillors raised concerns about the storage of engineering units used to run the fairground.

Mr Hill said that despite paying council tax, showmen and their families currently live "in squalor" on rented land on three sites in Mill Street, Windley Street and Lodge View.

Bolton Council had warned it would consider using enforcement action to remove the caravans if Mr Hill moved them on to the site tomorrow.

But Mr Hill, who puts on the Cheadle Square fair and operates the Victoria Square carousel, withdrew his threat after talks with planners and the council's estates office.

"They assured me they were preparing a report which will look at whether there are any other sites and they seem to be taking it seriously," he said.