SHOPKEEPERS face on-the-spot checks by council officials after a clean-up was ordered on an "eyesore" piece of land in Westhoughton.

Councillors have asked environmental health officers to carry out visits at the rear of Market Street where piles of rubbish have mounted.

Empty cooking oil containers, chicken bones and drinks cans have been dumped on land which lies at the rear of a number of take-aways and shops.

Pest control officers have also been drafted in to stamp out a vermin problem which is being fuelled by the rubbish dumped on the land. Cllr David Wilkinson, who represents the Westhoughton ward and is Bolton Council's executive member for the environment, has also called for litter enforcement officers to target the area and hand £50 fines to anyone caught dropping litter.

He said: "The bottom line is that it makes the town look a mess and attracts vermin.

"If we find evidence of shops, and particularly the take-aways having dumped food waste, we will urge officers to prosecute.

"Some of the tenants on the land need to have a look at how they are getting rid of their waste.

"It might just be down to the laziness of people who eat their food and then throw away the containers, but it is the responsibility of whoever owns the land to keep it clear.

"We don't want Westhoughton to earn a reputation as being a messy place."

Cllr Wilkinson said £25,000 would be used from the District Centres Improvement Fund to improve Ditchfield car park which borders the land at the rear of the shops. Japanese knotweed, which had caused the car park to crumble, will be removed and the surface re-laid.