A FIERCE struggle was under way today as residents squared up to developers in a bid to save a rural area of Burnley.

Locals in Worsthorne and Hurstwood have been mobilised in a bid to fight off developers planning to build on rural land between Pike Hill and Worsthorne.

The area is designated as rural land, which cannot be built on, in the borough council's Local Plan, which sets out areas for development in the borough over the next ten years.

However, several developers have lodged objections to the plan which could lead to the designation being overturned.

A massive campaign, Keep Worsthorne with Hurstwood Rural, has been launched by the parish council with up to 1,000 people expected to sign a petition giving their backing.

Hundreds of people are also expected to turn up for a special meeting this week when council planners will explain the Local Plan in detail.

Parish Clerk Carole Galbraith said: "Government policy is all about using brownfield land to develop on rather than rural and greenfield sites and that is what we want to see in Burnley.

"There are plenty of sites in the town which have previously been used for industry and which could be developed instead of rural sites like Worsthorne and Hurstwood.

"This is a crucial time for Burnley and its people as the plan will determine how the area develops over the next ten to15 years. We don't want to see urban sprawl and if the developers get their way, that is what will happen.

"I am sure everyone who lives in Worsthorne will support the campaign to keep the area rural, otherwise it will lose its character as a village if we get urban sprawl."

She added: "This is not a case of 'not in my back yard' either, because brownfield site development benefits everyone. It means that developers will be forced to invest into areas that are run down and need re-inventing." The Keep Worsthorne with Hurstwood Rural meeting will be held in the Parish Rooms tomorrow.

Resident and parish councillor Philip Walsh said he expected the petition to be signed by hundreds of people and that everyone he had spoken to in Worsthorne and Cliviger were against development.

Mr Walsh, who has lived in the village for 25 years, said: "We are very concerned that if they don't keep the land rural, the land owners will sell it off to developers and it will be spoiled.

"Worsthorne is already over subscribed with traffic congestion and this would only get worse."