Concerns have been raised that 'bottle diggers' are wrecking a popular park.
Daniel McNally says the activity, to find historic bottles, have caused trees to uproot.
He contacted The Bolton News after the paper reported a 40ft hole had been left in a woodland in Astley Bridge believed to be caused by a bottle digger using specialist equipment.
Daniel from Darcy Lever said the issuehas been going on for years on and off, but that this year it had escalated at the park.
Some of the most recent damage he says has resulted in several trees being uprooted, with some ready to fall at any moment, whilst four trees have already fallen.
His main concerns are the impact that this could have on the wildlife and their habitats.
He said: “The bottle diggers have been moving along and leaving craters behind which are an unbelievable size and dangerous.
“Four trees have fallen over, and several have been dug up too and look ready to fall at any time, which could have had nesting birds in them.
“They are also destroying homes and habitats of wildlife, including a rabbit warren that has been totally dug up and destroyed.
“It’s so selfish and inconsiderate and they have no concerns about conserving nature and wildlife’s habitats and our parks.”
Bottle diggers are usually digging for old Victorian bottles, which could be worth anything from £15-100
He says this is a matter of urgency and fears that too many green spaces are already being lost in Bolton.
Daniel added: “There needs to be action now to protect it.
“Our parks and wildlife habitats are slowly being destroyed when green areas in Bolton are being lost to development all the time.
“The council needs to ban and enforce all digging in our parks and forests to protect our precious green spaces and wildlife.”
Cllr Sean Hornby who represents Little Lever and Darcy Lever says he has now passed this on to the green space department for them to investigate matters.
He said: “The bottles are deep into Moses Gate Country Parks history.
“I believe the bottles being looked for could be from an old bottle factory near to Little Lever.
“If this has happened, it still doesn’t give them the right to dig things up.
“When people are digging things up, they don’t realise the damage caused.
“I have emailed the department and am awaiting a response.”
The damage to the woodland in Astley Bridge was was reported to the police, and the council helped to fill some of the holes in.
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