A protest has been held outside the town hall as campaigners showed their opposition towards the council regarding their climate change plans.

Members of the borough’s Green Party gathered at Le Mans Crescent ahead of the full council meeting on Wednesday, the last one before the local elections in May.

The group braved the rain to make their feelings known about the local authority’s record on the climate emergency.

They claimed the council should act now to become carbon neutral by 2030 and asked for “political change not climate change".

The protestors state the council declared a climate emergency in August 2019.

They said they would be carbon neutral within 11 years.

The party have said there has not been concrete meaningful information that would allow them to track progress towards Net Zero.

They have also said a reported published by University of Manchester last year showed that based on 2017 CO2 emissions levels Bolton will use all of its carbon budget by 2027.

Alan Johnson, the chair of the Bolton Greens, said he wanted more to be done.

He said: “We are protesting over the climate emergency and the motion they passed in August 2019.

“We are looking for more progress.

“We would like to see engagement with the public through citizens’ assemblies, more contact with the public and with businesses.

“We want to see particular measures they can put in place that would deal with the carbon footprint and make Bolton carbon neutral by 2030.

“Now that we are coming out of the pandemic it is a serious issue.

“It does affect the southern hemisphere worse but it does affect this country.

“We can see the evidence for it.

“We need to see concrete action from the council.

“We will be on the council until they do something.”

Mr Johnson said he also wanted to see the council set up a permanent member who would be solely responsible for the environment.

The council has previously outlined key plans of its strategy to deal with climate change.

They included governance and climate leadership, ensuring social housing meet minimum standards for building efficiency, carbon management plans, nature based solutions, investing in skills for a sustainable future and partnerships with businesses, and creating a new green business hub.