PLANS to build a garden centre on the site of a derelict mill could be in doubt if developers refuse to foot a £200,000 highways bill.

Members of Rossendale Council's development control committee approved an application for outline planning permission for a garden centre at Sykeside Mill, Syke Road, Haslingden.

But developers will have to foot a £200,000 bill to meet highway conditions to replace the traffic lights at Road End with a roundabout if the scheme is to go ahead.

The former Wills Fabrics mill is considered an eyesore by local residents and has been subjected to several arson attacks after it closed when the company brought in receivers in 1998.

The site has since been sold to a mystery developer.

Leeds-based estate agents SHM Smith Hodgkinson, acting on behalf of the former owners, announced in July that planning permission was being sought to demolish the Grade II listed building and develop the site as a garden centre.

The chimney stack, which has a characteristic lean, and the four-storey east mill block are both Grade II listed structures while the rest of the mill is subject to listed protection because of being attached to the chimney and east block. Councillors were told that besides numerous fires, the mill has also been subjected to vandalism and building materials have been stolen.

For safety reasons, some sections of the mill have already been demolished and a report concluded parts of the mill are dangerously unstable.

The cost of renewing parts of the weaving shed is likely to be uneconomic.

The outline approval includes permission for 300 car parking spaces as well as 27 cycle spaces and the garden centre building would be sited approximately on the site of the existing mill.

Chairman of the committee Coun Christopher Wadsworth said: "The artists' impressions are very impressive. I think it could be a credit to Rossendale if it does go ahead. "The mill is a complete eyesore but something which may irk some people is the amount of traffic it would generate.

"I used to live near Gordon Riggs near Todmorden and I know what that problem can be like.

"It is going to cost the best part of £200,000 to meet the highway conditions to replace the traffic lights at Road End with a roundabout.

"I hope the plan does go ahead."

Agent for the owners Ivan Wilson Architects, of Clitheroe, said the company was considering its options.