TOWNELEY Park bowling greens face demolition to make way for a walled garden.

Council chiefs will decide in the next few weeks if Towneley Bowling Greens will be closed in order to restore a walled garden in hall's grounds.

Bowlers have hit out at the plans, but council bosses say there has been a decline in the amount of participants of the sport in recent years.

Christine Rowson's father, who died 18 months ago, was a keen member of the club, and a bench stands next to the bowling green in his memory.

The 58-year-old, of Rossendale Road, Burnley, said her father would have been dismayed to hear the club was under threat.

She said: "He would be mortified if he knew.

"The club has been in our family for years, and it has always meant a lot to me. We used to spend all the summer there, because our father was an absolute fanatic."

A council spokesman said the three greens at Towneley Hall could be closed within months.

He said: "There are 19 other greens in the Burnley district, we need to weigh up which would be more beneficial for the people in Burnley.

"There are also only 460 registered bowlers in the district, there used to be a 1,000 so there seems less need to have so many bowling greens.

"The greens in the area cost the council approximately £80,000 a year for maintenance, salaries and insurance, whereas income generated from the greens is about £8,000.

"This is a huge deficit.

"People who participate in other sports have also complained about the amount of money that the bowlers get subsidised, on average it is £160 per person, where most sports don't get anything like this."

The walled garden would be created by Groundworks East Lancashire as part of the offshoots programme which is aimed at increasing healthy eating and fitness among residents.

The council report reviewing the greens is due to come out in the next week and a decision will be made later in the month.