RESIDENTS in Pennington are still collecting evidence to strengthen their fight to save Wesley Guild playing fields from the developers and to give it Village Green status.

More than 100 people supported a meeting at the local cricket club and more than 200 have already handed in completed questionnaires to show the council their feelings about plans to sell off the site which has been used by generations of Pennington families.

To locals it is not just a green field but a "green sanctuary" among the traffic and buildings. And yellow ribbons are now being tied to the trees to show their determination that this "green, green grass of home" stays just that.

Even Salford University experts have been pulled into the battle with an environmental study of Wesley Guild to find out about its natural plant, insect and bird life, and organisations such as the Department of National Heritage, The Open Spaces Society, the National Playing Fields Association, the Countryside Commission and the Council for the Protection of Rural England have all offered support in the fight to have it made a village green.

Spokesperson Kathy Halsall said: "It is ironic that at a time when so many organisations are fighting to protect and create areas like the Wesley Guild our own council seem determined to build on this land, putting financial gain before the needs of the community."

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