CAMPAIGNERS were celebrating this week after workmen moved on to the Elms precinct to start the big clean-up.

Work started on Wednesday to remove the tons of rubble from the Whitefield shopping centre, left behind after the demolition men flattened empty shops in a surprise move earlier this year.

The clean-up started just days after the precinct owners - Isle of Man-based North Western Properties - withdrew a court appeal against an order by Bury Council demanding they move the tons of rubble.

Now Bury Council engineers are keeping a close eye on the work to make sure that it is carried out safely.

The news was greeted with jubilation from campaigners who have fought for months for the removal of the eyesore mountains rubble which have become an "adventure playground" for children. "I feel like opening a bottle of champagne," said Mrs Julia Williams, chairman of the Elms Action Group.

"I was walking through the precinct when I saw that work had started. I could not believe it - it is about time!"

North Western Properties was given 28 days by Bury Council to shift the debris left at the Bury New Road site after empty shops were razed in March.

The company had originally appealed against the order, made under the Town and Country Planning Act, but finally agreed to it last week, just hours before a court was due to rule on the case.

The Elms Action Group was set up in September after 200 people crammed into Whitefield Community Centre, yards from the Elms, to vent their anger at the state of the precinct.

Mrs Williams added: "A lot of people think the company has treated the people of Whitefield as if we were dirt. For nine months we have had to put up with that eyesore. The company has been making excuses all the time, playing with lives and playing with the community. This is a start and at our next meeting on December 1 we will discuss what our next project is to get something done to the site."

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