IT is not the job of local councils to allow situations to develop and then penalise those involved. Or, as a County Court judge commented about Bolton Council to "lull ordinary decent folk into a false sense of security".

He was making this telling remark while granting the Council possession of land on St George's Road. The site housed a temporary building, on the site of two houses, which has been used as a mosque by local Muslims since the late 1970s.

The Muslims had been hoping to claim a type of squatters' rights on the disputed land, but Bolton Council had documents proving ownership of the site since 1923.

Unfortunately for the Muslims, Judge Richard Holman ruled that they had no evidence to prove their case and found for the Council. But, he still criticised the length of time it took Bolton Council to recover the land.

Allowing anyone the use of a site for this length of time, without making a move to prevent, it shows a dereliction of duty on the part of the Council. And treating an important local religious and cultural group in this cavalier fashion is downright insensitive.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.