COUNCILLORS and residents in an East Lancashire town are waiting for the results of a public inquiry into an application for a new showman's site on greenbelt land.

The public inquiry last month, was held after Hyndburn Council rejected the application from members of fairground family who wanted to use land of Burnley Road, Altham, as their base.

Some 112 letters of objection were received by Hyndburn Council's development services committee to the plan to use land of Burnley Road, Altham, as a site for 18 showmen families. Fairground equipment and rides would be stored on the site during winter months when the showmen weren't travelling around the country and tested before going back on the road.

The applicant, from Chorley, argued that councils needed to start making provision for show families because there were now fewer sites than ever before for them to use.

But councillors unanimously agreed that the site, next to a picturesque stretch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, will not be used for the project.

Residents and businesses objected on numerous grounds, including the detrimental effect it would have on the landscape, and that it would lead to congestion on Burnley Road near to Altham Ambulance Station - potentially putting lives at risk.

They also expressed concern that the site could become a transit camp for travellers or a scrap yard for redundant fairground equipment.

Environmentalists objected to the scheme on the grounds that the site was home to several species of orchid, roe deer, foxes and barn owls.