COUNCIL chiefs have vowed to step up their efforts to stop arsonists turning a stretch of open land in Farnworth into a graveyard for burned-out cars.

Children have turned the charred shells of the vehicles into a dangerous unofficial adventure playground.

And fire officers have voiced their concerns over the increasing levels of car fires on a stretch of council-owned open land behind Shillingford Way, near the disused Harrowby Street mill.

They say vandals regularly set the cars alight and dump them.

In the latest incident, arsonists set fire to a Vauxhall Astra and left it burning on the stretch of grass close to a disused tennis court.

Sub Officer Rob Gibson from Farnworth Fire Station said local children were putting themselves at risk by playing in the burned-out shells of the cars.

Calling for bollards to be erected, he said: "A lot of cars are being dumped there and something needs to be done to stop it from becoming a dumping ground. Residents have complained."

A spokesman confirmed that Bolton Council owned the land and had erected bollards previously.

"We do sympathise with people in the area and we have taken steps to try to make the area secure although fencing we have erected has been attacked by vandals.

"We have put an order through to get the fencing repaired. An inspector checked out the site again yesterday and discovered the fencing around the old tennis courts had been broken down allowing access to the area," the council spokesman went on.

"We have already carried out some work in the area and some time ago bollards were installed to stop up a small unadopted road which runs between nearby houses to prevent vehicle access to the public footpath and the old tennis courts."