PLANS to develop a 20-acre site off Vivary Way in Colne have raised concerns among green campaigners before councillors have even had a chance to discuss them.

Barnfield Construction has submitted outline plans to Pendle Council to create a retail and business park, which would include a DIY store with a garden centre and builders' merchants, two restaurants or takeaways and nine industrial units, on land near the end of the M65.

But Brian Jackson, a Friends of the Earth campaigner, has slammed the idea as bad for the area and its residents, as it is on the site of a former landfill site.

But Mark Taylforth, of Barnfield Construction, said: "If Mr Jackson or anyone else has any concerns about the proposed development they are very welcome to come and see us and look at the plans because issues such as the ones Mr Jackson is raising are taken into consideration."

Mr Jackson said: "The landfill site was last used in the late 1960s and contains domestic waste from over one million bins, as well as industrial toxic waste.

"If oxygen does not reach the waste products, in other words if they are buried, they will rot more slowly and the by-product would be methane. If this site is built on and methane is disturbed it could find new routes to nearby houses. Methane will catch fire and if it builds up in a particular area and there's a spark, it will explode.

"Landfill sites appear after many years to be quite a natural site. This particular site has got trees round part of it, shrubs have grown, people walk their dogs there and I have seen children playing on there. There may be some dangers but they will be minimal if the land is not disturbed." Mr Jackson said he did not expect the site to be left as it is but wanted to point out that there were alternatives.

He said: "This is not a suitable site. We would say, enhance what is already there and plant more trees. If it was built on, one option would be to dig up the rubbish and dispose of it at another landfill site and an another option, if they are building light structures which don't require deep foundations, would be to install a void between the ground level and the floor to trap the methane."

The plans will be considered by Colne and District Committee on February 14.