A FURIOUS councillor today hit out at "mindless fools" who pushed a six-feet long stone roller into the River Irwell.

Councillor Michael McShea, who is also chairman of environmental group Stacksteads Riverside Park group, said the roller was removed from the river by a JCB following a long campaign.

But now it has been pushed back down the riverbank and into the water.

Coun McShea said: "The roller has been in the river for as long as I can remember. It was being covered by leaves and other things so I decided to try to have it extracted.

"It was difficult to pull out because it had been there for so long and had wedged itself into the debris at the bottom of the river.

"People were kind enough to volunteer their services to give something back to the community and then a set of mindless fools go and pushed it back into the river.

"We had ideas for the roller, to use it as a landmark for the Riverside Park picnic site, but now the idea has had to be put back until we can get it out again."

The roller is thought to have been used to squeeze liquid out of fabric in the felt making process and most likely came from Acre Mill at Stacksteads.

A Rossendale Council spokesman confirmed that the roller was thought to be linked to the feltworks at Acre Mill.

He added: "I wonder how anyone could push it back into the river.

"I don't quite know how they could have done because it must weigh at least a ton.

"The person who did it must have been as strong as Superman!"

Anybody with any information to the incident, or about where the roller came from or with information about mills that used to be in the area, can contact Mr McShea on 01706 874607.