THE big guns of the council have won the first battle of the Tyldesley footpaths war.

It has been raging for two years.

But residents in Sycamore Avenue have vowed to continue their guerilla campaign until the Highways and Works committee capitulate.

There has been no let-up in hostilities after the council gave residents just 14 days to remove a concrete obstruction on a footpath leading from Heathfield Drive to Sale Lane.

Residents closed the path off 12 months ago because of the amount of rubbish and because it had become a gathering point for hordes of teenagers.

It was also, they claimed, a weak point in the security of their homes, several of which had suffered from burglaries.

But a letter from the council said residents on both sides of the footpath would face up to £1,000 costs if they did not remove three concrete panel fences.

Residents, however, in complying with the order, did not remove concrete posts which had been cemented into the path. It meant council workers from the engineers department were forced to remove them.

Claire Asprey, of Sycamore Avenue, who has been at the forefront of the long running battle, said: "I'm disgusted and upset with the council.

"The footpath is no more than a muddy track filled with rubbish and dog dirt and there is no reason on earth why it should be used by anyone.

"They can walk the length of just two bungalows and they are on Sycamore Avenue which is not only cleaner than the path, but safer.

"The council have informed us this path is now part of the Highways Act 1980, which is a contradiction to what they said last year when they didn't even know who the owner of the path was!

"We intend to fight on and demand this path is closed for good.

"The safety of our homes and families are at stake here and the council should realise that and help us to stamp out crime and the nuisance value.

"If the path was that important to be termed a part of the highway then why isn't is tarmacced or flagged? The fight will definitely continue."

Members of the Highways Committee have been told: "The Borough Engineer carried out a detailed consultation exercise in August. After considering all the evidence for and against the existence of a public right of way over the footpath and consulting with the Borough Solicitor and the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Highways and Works Committee decided that a public right of way did exist over the footpath."

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