A PETITION aims to convince council bosses that a former right of way did actually exist.

Residents in the Redearth Road area took action after Blackburn with Darwen Council said it could only reopen the walkway if they could prove they had used it over a 20-year period.

The right of way between Redearth Road and Bolton Road was closed in 1996 but Coun Frank Connor says it was only a temporary measure while a factory carried out alterations.

Former councillor Derek Brindle also claims he took a member of the planning and highways department to visit the site while he was still in office.

But despite repeated requests and the fact that it appears on local maps, town hall officers have refused to reopen the right of way.

Keith Armstrong, of Tower Road said: "I have been trying to get this reopened for eight years.

"The people who signed this petition are prepared to go to the council and testify that it was a path."

Blackburn with Darwen Council said a report would be written and presented at a future committee meeting.