A CONTROVERSIAL campsite has become the first to be granted a licence by Bury Council.

The Paddock at Sheep Hey Farm, in Ramsbottom, features two luxury glamping yurts, which take up five pitches and a pair of bell tents, while there are also an additional 10 pitches for touring tents.

And while Burrs Parks has been licensed as a caravan site, the is the only campsite to date to gain approval from the authority's licensing and safety panel.

But the decision has not been welcomed by the site's neighbours in Sheep Hey. And the residents' spokesperson, Andy Chicken, claims applicant Carol Rothwell has not shown them any consideration for the impact the site has on them.

Addressing licensing chiefs on Thursday evening, Mrs Rothwell, of Kay's Cottage, admitted that relations with her neighbours were "hostile".

She added: "I get on with it fine, we just live our lives and they live their lives, really. The campsite isn't where their houses are , it's on a separate field. You have to go past the campsite to get there, but they don't park there. It's not actually that near the houses."

And asked by Cllr Jamie Walker why there was so much ill-feeling from her neighbours she said: "They didn't want us to get planning permission for a campsite and when we got it Andy Chicken said "let battle commence".

Mr Chicken said that residents were not happy with the way Mrs Rothwell had gone about the venture.

He said: "There was no consultation, which rubbed up neighbours the wrong way and also where the campsite is situated in relation to our houses, compared to the Rothwell's house, which has big automatic gates that close them off.

"In our view the Rothwells get on with their lives and don't really care about the impact on our lives, and that's led to the hostility."

Residents had also written to councillors with concerns that some of the planning conditions put in place when the scheme was approved in 2016 had not been complied with, including the signage for passing places on the single-track lane leading up to the site.

Other matters raised included toilet blocks which had remained "bright blue" rather than timber framed, and that campers were not being directed to access the campsite off Leaches Road, as per the planning permission.

Mrs Rothwell told the panel that the toilet blocks would soon be completely screened off to residents and that there location was so tractors which empty them could easily access them off the road.

She said they were also close to the power supply they used and things could not easily be moved around.

However she added she was willing to listen to any suggestions from her neighbours with a view to lessening the impact on their lives.

The panel was told by licensing officers that the concerns raised by the neighbours were planning rather than licensing issues and the decision had to be made on the grounds on whether the site was safe and hygienic for campsite users.

The application was unanimously approved.