A BID to bring the Great British Rail Headquarters to Bolton is now in jeopardy after sparking fury in a "betrayed" historic railway community.

This comes with a vote set to take place in Horwich to withdraw their support to bring the headquarters to Bolton due to outrage that the bid “overlooks” Horwich Loco Works, which is steeped in railway heritage, as a possible site.

At a Bolton Council meeting last Wednesday, Cllr David Grant of the Horwich and Blackrod Independents ripped up a copy of the council’s application form, saying that the council had “intentionally written a bid for failure” which had got the name of the organisation itself wrong “13 times.”

The Bolton News:

Cllr David Grant at Wednesday's council meeting

He said: “I speak on behalf of hundreds if not thousands of Horwich residents when I say that this is nothing short of a Conservative betrayal.”

Speaking after the meeting, he added: “I genuinely believe that they had to put a bid forward to show that they are applying for funding, but they are not confident that they are going to win.”

The announcement last Tuesday that the bid was being made for Bolton town centre had already proven controversial, given Horwich’s status, with the Loco Works have been a centre of rail engineering for more than a century.

Cllr Grant said: “This is yet another case of this administration putting Bolton first and Horwich and its people last.”

The Bolton News:

Horwich Loco Works is steeped in rail heritage

He confirmed that Horwich Town Council will now be voting on whether to write to the government announcing that the town is formally withdrawing its support.

But council leader Martyn Cox says the bid is crucial for the whole of Bolton.

He said: “If we get this right it will bring jobs for people all over this borough.

He added: “I don’t normally get outraged but for Cllr Grant to say that Horwich Town Council is going to withdraw its support, prejudicing every ward in this borough is one of the most disgraceful acts that I’ve ever heard of.

“He should think twice about that, this is a bid for the whole of Bolton to have a national institution based in this town bringing jobs and investment.”