Residents win back right to use playing fields

Local people have won a battle against Bolton Council after they were barred from the King George V field.

The decision follows pressure from the National Playing Fields Association to allow access to the field, which is leased to Little Lever Sports Club.

Although villagers had enjoyed using the field for years, in November a two metre-high fence was erected around the perimeter. Residents were also left puzzled when a footpath, connecting Mytham Road to Sandown Crescent, was blocked off and gates at both ends securely locked.

Rocky Sharrock, from the National Playing Fields Association, said: "All the problems have been addressed, and Bolton Council have decided to move the fence so that the people who live nearby will have access to the field.

"The pitch will remain for public use, and discussions are underway to knock down and relocate the changing rooms."

Dave Marshall, of Mytham Road, Little Lever, said: "This has upset many people in the area because it's an important facility for elderly people and children.

"It's always been a public field, and ever since I lived here it's been used by kids playing in the area.

"The field is central to the village, with a park and bowling green situated nextdoor."

More than 200 signatures were collected when residents organised a petition to ask Town Hall chiefs to reverse the ruling.

They argued that the land was bequeathed to the villagers by the King George's Fields Foundation.

Their claim was confirmed by the National Playing Fields Association, who had the documentation to prove it.

The King George organisation was set up after the death of King George V in 1936 so that land could be bought for the public in his memory.

A spokesman for Bolton Council said: "The football club has had use of these fields for more than 50 years.

"We have actively worked with the National Playing Fields Association, the football club and local ward councillors to find a resolution."