CAMPAIGNERS have launched a bid to save an 18th century farmhouse from developers.

Historic Pearl Brook Farm in Brownlow Road, Horwich, could be demolished and replaced with a block of 16 executive apartments if Bolton planners agree. The stone-built farmhouse, which dates back to 1785, is one of the oldest farmhouses in the borough.

Members of local history group Horwich Heritage want the building to be listed and say developers should come up with an alternative scheme which would retain the farm.

Chairman Stuart Whittle said: "There are not many buildings left like this and we think it is worth preserving.

"It's boarded up and vandalised but it dates back before Wallsuches bleach works to a time when Horwich was just a small village with a few farms."

The group has written to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and also to English Heritage who have arranged to send a surveyor to assess the building with a view to it being protected.

Mr Whittle said: "There are also other parts of the scheme which people will probably not be happy about, such as the extra traffic that would be created in a residential area.

"We have written a full objection to Bolton Council's planning department."

A spokesman for the planning department said the building was being assessed to determine whether the plan would be recommended for refusal.

"If we decide that this is a building that we want to keep, there are a number of ways we can look at doing that," said the spokesman.

The plans are due to be considered at a Horwich Town Council planning meeting tonight.