COAL getters will have to wait and see if they can pick coal from an Atherton tip.

Rackwood Colliery Co Ltd want to salvage coal from the old Gibfield Colliery tip. But the plans have brought an outcry from local's who don't fancy more mineral workings on their doorstep.

The company wants to reclaim 200,000 tonnes of coal from the tip on 145 acres of Green Belt land off Schofield Lane - a big chunk of the buffer zone between Atherton and Westhoughton.

They say it would take around three years to work and restore the site to a mixture of amenity use with agriculture and woodland. And restoration would include the Bag Lane Opencast site which would take a further two years to complete.

But locals fear it would raise a load of problems and put a blight on property.

They say it would delay the promised Bag Lane site restoration, would affect their view, create dust, noise and vibration and destroy open land.

Other fears raised included traffic congestion and site upkeep after restoration.

Planners decided to visit the site before making a decision.

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