ONE of Oswaldtwistle's best-known landmarks is set to shrink in size in a bid to make it safe.

Councillors will decide tomorrow if they will approve a scheme to take the top 12 metres off the 66 metre high chimney at Rhyddings Mill, in Rhyddings Street.

The mill is a grade-two listed building within the Rhyddings Conservation area and council officers are recommended that approval be given to the scheme if the owners promise to repair the remainder of the chimney.

The application to remove the top 12 metres follows an incident where one of the metal braces placed on the chimney to strengthen it fell off, nearly hitting a passer-by.

There have been several incidents where brickwork has fallen to the ground.

But councillors will be asked tomorrow to give permission for the top 12 metres to be pulled down if the rest of the chimney is repaired.

A spokesman for the planning department said: "We don't want any work to take place on the site until photographs have been taken.

"The building will also be recorded by a suitably qualified person to ensure that people know what it used to look like and the important part in played within Oswaldtwistle's industrial conservation area.

"All work should be carried out within three months of the demolition."

A report to councillors adds: "A structural survey of the chimney concludes it is in a poor physical state due to neglect, poor maintenance and long term de-commissioning."

The mill below the chimney was damaged by fire in 1992 and part of the site now includes a modern warehouse owned by Strathmore Ltd.

When the matter was first discussed last October, councillors said they feared a high wind could cause the top of the chimney to blow over, putting lives at risk.

Hyndburn's Local History Society objected because of the historic importance of the structure but English Heritage does not object to the proposal as long as the remaining chimney is repaired to a satisfactory standard.