A PUBLIC inquiry into the future of land in Horwich has heard that heavy lorries would not cause problems in the area.

Despite the council's planning officers recommendation that permission should be granted for a housing development off Crown Lane, the application was turned down in March.

The council has argued that the proposed development conflicts with Bolton's Unitary Development Plan in that the site was allocated for employment purposes and the land should be kept for industrial use. Roger Lancaster, counsel for consultant surveyors Dunlop Heywood, argued that heavy goods vehicles travelling to an industrial site would create more of a nuisance for local residents than cars if new houses were built.

But Brian Johnson, Bolton Council's senior planning officer, said: "HGVs may have a slightly increased impact in terms of noise and frequency, but would not create undue problems." Mr Lancaster also argued that potential industrialists considering the area for a new development would be deterred because of the nearby residential area leading to restrictions and security problems.

He said: "Horwich is already awash with industrial sites and this particular site is not even immediately available anyway."

Mr Johnson at one stage chose to speak in his capacity as a planning expert and not on behalf of the council before suggesting that the site should not be developed at all and instead left as protected green belt.

David Manley, counsel for Bolton Council, argued that other industrialists had not been deterred from coming to the same area.

Littlewoods was situated near to a residential site and had not encountered security problems.

Government planning inspector Clive Whitehouse has visited the site and will do so again at the end of the inquiry.