A ROW over a coal yard in Westhoughton has escalated after town councillors were told there was nothing they could do to change a controversial Bolton Council decision.

Haulage bosses have been handed a certificate saying they can use the former Co-op coal yard in Manchester Road, Chequerbent, despite residents' fears that the move could cause an accident on the nearby busy roundabout.

However, members of Westhoughton Town Council are fuming after discovering they were not consulted because of a Bolton Council computer glitch. Bristol-based firm EH Bennett had been trying to open a coal depot at the site for the past two years.

But Bolton Council's planning chiefs turned down the company's first application for a Certificate of Lawful Use in December 2000 after consulting Westhoughton's councillors.

The planners said they could not grant it because the firm had not provided enough information about its proposals.

But in a U-turn, the certificate was granted in November last year on the same day planners were also deciding whether to stop the firm opening a similar coal yard in Blackrod. They turned down the Blackrod proposal after residents protested.

Cllr Dave Chadwick appealed for help at a full meeting of Bolton Council and asked what Westhoughton residents could do now to stop the plans.

He said: "This whole thing just beggars belief -- there has been a total lack of consultation. Is there not a sophisticated computer system at Bolton Council?"

He added: "The site hasn't been used for 18 years. It is near a very busy roundabout and more than 4,000 vehicles are expected to use the site. It's an accident waiting to happen."