A HOME-owner offered to take a foul-smelling grotspot off the council's hands -- but was told it would cost him £800.

Donald Brockbank, aged 64, wanted to make the 13-square-yard patch of land part of his garden to stop people using it as dog-toilet and rubbish dump.

But council officers said he would first have to pay £115 for a survey, £115 for legal fees, £220 for a planning application plus £350 to buy the land.

He said: "All I wanted to do was clean up a dump that nobody wants to look after. It's a mess and it stinks to high Heaven in the summer.

"But there's no point in paying £800. I can't believe the council wants me to pay so much money. It just doesn't make sense."

Mr Brockbank, who lives in Langham Close, Sharples, and works as a hospital courier got fed up with waiting for the land to be tidied up and asked if he could look after it.

He says he was told he could rent it for £25 a year, with £45 service charges and £50 for legal fees. His only other option would be to buy the land -- for £800.

"At the end of the day its only a small patch of ground," he said. "Nobody else wants to look after it. All I want to do is tidy it up so it doesn't smell so much, but I'm being penalised for caring."

A spokesman for Bolton MBC said: "The council has a schedule of land prices and all cases across the borough are treated the same.

"This home-owner has been given an inclusive figure in line with the schedule which includes the cost of legal fees and the cost of submitting a planning application."