A BOLTON landmark could be bulldozed if a planning application is given the go ahead.

An proposal to demolish Kearsley Town Hall has been submitted to Bolton Council — months after the building went under the hammer for £138,000.

Harry Jackson, of Harry Jackson Surveyors Ltd in Farnworth Retail Park, Wellington Street, has applied for the work to be carried out.

The application says the building should be demolished because it is in a “dangerous and dilapidated condition”.

If approved, work is expected to start in November and finish in December. Redevelopment is planned for the site.

But neighbours and history experts have described the plans as a “further blow” for Kearsley.

Brian Tetlow, chairman of Bolton Civic Trust, said: “It is another sad reflection on the lack of support for people in Farnworth and Kearsley.

“The former town hall could have been used for the convenience of residents in Farnworth and Kearsley.

“It is a public building that could have been put to good use years ago but it has been neglected. It is a further blow since the scandal of losing the old Farnworth grammar school.”

Stephen Tonge, of Station Road, Kearsley, said: “That was the building that people readily recognised as the town hall in the community.

"The building would have been a perfect community space, but that gap has been filled by Kearsley Mount Methodist Church"

Foxx Limited Consulting Civil and Structural Engineers, who carried out a structural appraisal, said the roof and part the second floor had suffered from extensive fire damage and dry rot was found throughout the building.

Renovation work was “impractical and uneconomic” because of the building’s condition.

Kearsley Town Hall, which is thought to have been built in the late 1800s, has been a hotspot for vandals and anti-social behaviour since it became empty more than three years ago.

It was formerly used by the probation service and looked set to be transformed into offices after Hamill Investments was granted planning permission last year but the deal fell through following lengthy negotiations.