RESIDENTS have hit out at proposals which could see a mental health hospital built on a green belt site.

Gib Hill in Nelson is one of the five potential sites earmarked by the Lancashire Care Trust for a new mental hospital in East Lancashire.

The new facility will be one of four purpose built modern hospitals to replace the county's 15 existing mental health facilities over the next 10 years.

The inclusion of the land, which separates Colne and Nelson, has angered campaigners wanting to see the area retained as open space.

Campign group RAGE, Residents Against the Gib Hill Exploitation, said they had not been consulted over the plans and were prepared to fight to keep one of the few wildlife sites in the town.

Former Pendle Council leader and former councillor Azhar Ali, a member of RAGE ,said: "We have been working with welfare groups to get this earmarked as an area of special interest.

"We want to know who put this forward as a site but so far Pendle Council have not been able to tell us.

"No one consulted with community groups or with the people living in the area.

"It seems they are hell bent on getting this development through the back door.

"And we will fight this because we need to protect this green belt space, which is very important to the residents in this area."

The trust said extensive consultations, widely advertised in the local press, took place in Accrington from March 24 to July 26 last year.

The decision as to which site will be used as part of the £150m programme of improvements will be made in the new year.

The other sites under consideration in East Lancashire by the trust as potential locations are Burnley General Hospital, Reedley Hallow in Fence, Regent Street in Colne and Shuttleworth Mead in Padiham.

A spokesperson for Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust said: "The trust held two public involvement sessions in Accrington on October 29 to give local people the opportunity to vote and comment on where they think the new unit should be.

"The green belt issue was raised at the public meeting and obviously the Trust Board will take this into consideration before making any decision on which sites to pursue in the new year.

"Should anyone have concerns when a site is chosen they will have the opportunity to express these when an application for planning permission is made."