GIVE us the last few shops and we will clear up the rubble!

That's the ultimatum on the eve of a court battle over the Elms Precinct in Whitefield.

A letter from the company, which ordered in the demolition men, was read out to the meeting.

Council leader Derek Boden made the revelation just days before Bury Council and the Isle of Man-based precinct bosses are due in court to decide if the piles of bricks should be shifted.

He said: "If the council gives planning consent for shops, for which they have put in an application, and I put in writing a willingness to give compulsory purchase powers, they are willing to shift the rubble.

"What they are really saying is that if you do not, it is your fault that these bricks are on the site. I think the effect is to show them in a good light and make it plain to everyone that they are reasonable people and their proposals are reasonable." North Western Properties has submitted a planning application for an L-shaped parade of shops at the Green Lane/Bury New Road corner of the site. It also wants to talk with planning officers about a scheme for the overall site which, they indicate, could be open and trading by Christmas 2000, although it is not thought the scheme would cover the entire site.

The letter states that the company has negotiated re-location with some tenants but was "being held to ransom" by others and wants the council to help them out.

Coun Boden said the council was not prepared to be "blackmailed" but would consider the letter as, at some point, the council and the property owners would have to negotiate.

He added that the council would not do anything about compulsory purchase powers at present, although it might be in the public interest to do so in the future. "The timing of the letter has been dictated by the court case and I imagine they are seeking to avoid the consequence if a magistrate finds in the council's favour and North West Properties is forced to clean up rubble," he added.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.