COUNCIL chiefs have decided not to complain to the BBC over a controversial documentary exposing the drugs trade on a Bury housing estate - despite angry residents and councillors claiming it gave a distorted and inaccurate view.

Screened by BBC2 last week, Drugland: Manchester focused on dealers working the estate where Rupert Satchell was murdered in Goldfinch Drive two years ago and included graphics images of youngsters taking drugs.

The documentary caused outrage among residents living in Chesham Fold, with many calling for the BBC to send its cameras back to "put the record straight" and show the steps that have been taken to combat drug use.

However, despite expressing anger at the way Chesham Fold was portrayed, leader of the council John Byrne, who made the decision not to complain with the council's chief executive Mark Sanders and local police chiefs, believes contacting the BBC would make no difference.

He said: "At no time were Bury Council consulted about this programme. They did it completely independently and if they wanted to give a balanced view and show the good things that are being done, they would have spoken to the police or experienced councillors.

"But we cannot undo what has been done. The BBC won't want to make another programme showing the good work being done by the council, police and other agencies because if they wanted to show the other side of the story they would have done so in the first place. The best thing for us to do is "lick our wounds" and carry on with the good work."

Drugland followed the investigations of Bury-born journalist Sarah O'Connell into the patterns of drug-related crime and how easily children can get swept into it.

One mother living on the estate said she was horrified to see that one film clip of youths playing in a park featured her two sons.

She said: "The programme implied that all the youths used drugs. I was disappointed and angry that innocent teenagers, spending time in the park as they have nowhere else to go, were portrayed as drug users."

Another resident said: "I know a lot of people here and they are all hard working and proud of where we live. The programme tarred everyone with the same brush, especially the estate's teenagers. It is not a haven for drug addicts and dealers."

The reaction to the documentary also dominated the latest Bury East Area Board meeting held less than 24 hours after the film was shown, with many residents fearing the hard work put in to rebuild the image of the estate now lay in tatters.

Speaking at that meeting, Coun Byrne said: "The fact that the programme referred to the estate as "Dicky Bird" when its name has been changed to Chesham Fold wipes out the hard work done over many years to transform this area of the borough."

Footage from the documentary showing children as young as 12 taking drugs was blasted at the meeting by Jane Wild, from the Bury Youth Offending Team.

Speaking on behalf of Early Break in Bury, which offers support and advice to children on all aspects of drug and alcohol abuse, she claimed that many scenes were "staged" and sensationalised.

She told the meeting: "Give a camera to a group of children and they will play up to it. All of it was rubbish and now people have a view on Chesham Fold that is not real. The way it was highlighted was not right and I am angry for the people of Bury."

Redvales ward councillor Khalid Hussain urged the board to make a formal complaint to the BBC after claiming the programme also portrayed Bury Magistrates Court in a bad light by showing one drug dealer boasting about smuggling Class A drugs into the courts.

Frank Fenton, the chairman of Chesham Fold Tenants' Residents Association (TRA), added that lessons needed to be learnt from the whole episode.

He said: "In my opinion, and the rest of the TRA, we feel that the programme was explicit in detail but did not portray the estate as it is. We need to get together with agencies, like the council, police and probation service, and discuss the way forward to stop these kind of programmes from happening again."

Chairman of the board, Councillor Trevor Holt, recommended the board should contact the BBC with their views and request a right to reply.

But a BBC spokesperson said: "We have not had a great deal of feedback on the programme and have only received two complaints so far. Drugland was three programmes featuring London, Manchester and Ibiza looking at drug dealing with a wide geographical spread. There was no intention to single out any particular area; the programme was looking to reflect the extensive drug dealing culture across the country."