A ROW about rubbish has led to plans for a revamp of a housing estate being put on hold.

Bolton at Home wants to close ginnels, install new car parks and railings, and introduce traffic calming on the Thornbank Estate, off Deane Road, Bolton.

But private homeowners said they had not been consulted about proposals to create new storage sheds for the bins.

Bolton Council believes the changes are vital to improve security and brighten up the estate, which is made up of several small apartment blocks and some houses. The plans have the backing of police.

The new bin stores would be made of metal panels and screened by climbing plants. Currently, flats on the estate share bins stored in insecure sheds which people can only get to down a steep footpath and steps.

However, resident Myra Clare said there had been no consultation about the siting of the new bin stores, which would lead to "foul and smelly odours".

She said: "We strongly oppose the intention to build waste stations in close proximity to our homes. It will affect the sale value of our homes. It will spoil our outlook, which is lovely and green at the moment."

Fellow Thornbank resident Madeline Kelly told a Bolton Council Planning Committee meeting she had hand-delivered a petition signed by eight homeowners who objected to the proposals but that details of the objections had not been included in the committee papers.

Ebrahim Adia, councillor for Rumworth ward, said: "The whole scheme has to be welcomed. The estate needs the kind of facelift that's proposed here. However, if there's an issue over consultation I would support deferral."

Councillors put off making a decision about the revamp so that a site visit could take place, alongside an investigation into why the residents had not been properly consulted.