MORE than half the homes in a village protected by conservation status are flouting planning laws.

Now dozens of residents, whose cottage homes have been altered without planning permission, could be faced with bills to have the work reversed.

A conservation plan for Mount Pleasant in Nangreaves would see more than half of its residents asked to carry out restoration work.

Since the early 1980s, 54 out of 87 houses have been altered without approval.

A decision on the plan will be made by councillors at a meeting of the planning control committee on Tuesday evening.

Proposals say that plastic window frames and doors must be replaced.

Outdoor fixtures, including satellite dishes and alarm boxes, must be made less conspicuous. Attention will also focus on painted stone walls, concrete barriers, and homes with new outbuildings.

Planners say the measures will restore and preserve the heritage of the cobbled lane, deemed a conservation area in 1974.

Enforcement action could be taken against homeowners who do not comply.

Mike Nightingale, Bury Council's conservation officer, said: "We recognise that having to rectify this unauthorised work may not be cheap for the people involved and we aim to do this in negotiation.

"However, in circumstances where changes are completely out of character we will have to resort to enforcement action if necessary. Changes such as plastic window frames are quite important in that they are the sort of details that make the village special."

Included in the plan are council commitments to improve parking, roads and improve parking, roads and lighting. The report was drawn up in summer and forwarded to residents and interest groups including Bury Local History Society and English Heritage.

Terraces on the lane, built alongside the mill of quilt manufacturer John Hall, date back to the 1830s.

The plan has been welcomed by members of the Mount Pleasant Conservation Group.

Co-ordinator Val Woods said: "We are very keen to preserve the conservation status of the village and we have quite a large following.

"We are hopeful that the plan will bring about a change in the approach to how alterations are carried out."

But Brendan Leyden, landlord of the Lord Raglan Hotel, was more cautious.

He said: "It is going to cost people a fortune. It's a bit draconian to make people pay to take out their windows and put in new ones.

"I can see the point in that if you have a stone cottage with white windows it looks a bit stupid, but it needs to be thought through.

"Anyone replacing their windows in future could be made to do that in wood, which is one way around it, but obviously that would take time."