FOOTPATH users who say an ancient right of way in Goshen is under threat have voiced their arguments at a public inquiry.

Bury Council want the footpath, adjacent to Bury Cemetery, to be re-routed to make way for a new housing development.

The current right of way runs along the cemetery wall from the rear of Orchid Drive towards the River Roch.

An alteration would see it shifted onto a pavement that will be built as a continuation from Orchid Drive.

Government appointed inspector Peter Norman heard the arguments in an inquiry at Bury Town Hall's Elizabethan Suite on Tuesday.

Council rights of way officer David Chadwick said that the current path would run behind homes, presenting a needless risk of crime for residents.

He added that re-routing would allow better use of land for development, and that the diversion of 35 metres would not be too great.

However, members of the Open Spaces Society, with support from the Goshen and Blackford Bridge Tenants and Residents Association, challenged the proposal.

Objectors maintained that the route was a traditional one between the original farming settlement of Goshen and Bury's Market Place.

Mr Donald Lee, representing the Open Spaces Society, argued that the current pathway was "semi-rural".

As part of the area's heritage it should be maintained as part of the development, he said.

Mr Lee maintained that the trail was represented on an Ordnance Survey map from 1848, although its precise path had been altered to make way for the cemetery layout.

Mr Chadwick said that the route had been a different one, and that there was therefore no ancient right of way.

A decision from the inspector is expected within the next three months.