WAR veterans are outraged at plans to move a memorial to their fallen comrades to make way for a luxury housing development.

The project would involve moving Dunscar War Memorial from where it has stood for the last 83 years on Blackburn Road, as part of a scheme to build 11 detached homes and a three-storey apartment block.

Developer Stephen Fitton says the project will renovate land he claims has become a gathering point for drug users and local tearaways. But 85-year-old D-day veteran Cecil Rogers said the memorial should be sacrosanct.

He is backed in his opposition to the scheme by Bolton North-east MP David Crausby, Bromley Cross councillor Alan Wilkinson and Tony Muscat, chairman of the Bromley Cross Residents' Association.

Mr Rogers, of Windsor Road, Bromley Cross, said: "To move this memorial would be an insult to all my friends who gave their lives for their country.

"Everyone I have spoken to -- both young and old -- is outraged by this plan and there will be one hell of a row if it is allowed to go ahead."

Ronald Ashmore, aged 90, of Waterfall Terrace, Belmont, fought at Arnhem during the Second World War.

He said: "Dunscar Memorial is special to many people because of its prominent position and that is where it must stay."

The development, proposed for greenbelt land and within the Dunscar conservation area, would see 11 five-bedroom homes built between the corner of Blackburn Road and Darwen Road and the Dunscar Industrial estate.

In today's market, the homes could fetch around £450,000 each.

Under the plans, the memorial would be relocated to a green space around 50 yards to the south, in front of a new building housing six apartments.

The move is needed to carry out significant alterations to the road infrastructure to improve access for the new homes.

MP David Crausby is also angered by the proposals.

Speaking from the Houses of Parliament, he said: "I am completely opposed to this idea and I cannot see any reason for it. It must be stopped." The council has written to residents in the area asking their opinion on Mr Fitton's plans.

The developer, who lives at the neighbouring Dunscar Fold, owns more than two hectares of the land behind Darwen Road.

He could not be contacted for comment yesterday.

But in a letter to planning bosses, Mr Fitton said the site was a magnet for glue-sniffers, fly-tippers and dog walkers who did not clean up after their pets.

The 50-year-old said: "Drug taking has been a problem for the last 18 months that is the main reason for us to consider redeveloping the land.

"I realise because of my age I cannot expect to have respect from individuals in their teens or indeed older and, although we own a property in a fine area, Friday and Saturday nights are no longer looked forward to."

But Cllr Wilkinson said: "The council must not allow this to go ahead." His fellow Bromley Cross councillors, Cllr Donald Carr and Cllr Norman Critchley, are unable to comment as they are members of the committee which will consider the application once it has been processed by the planning department.

The council-owned memorial was erected in 1921 and features a statue of a soldier with his head bowed in memory of fallen comrades and the names of around 130 local men who perished in the First World War.

Later, the names of around 14 men who gave their lives in the Second World War were added.

Tony Muscat, chairman of the Bromley Cross Resident's Association, has formed a campaign group to stop the development.

He said: "We will do everything in our power to make sure this doesn't go ahead - there are enough homes here already."

A meeting has been called by residents' leaders at Walmsley Parish Hall, on Thursday, July 22 at 7pm to discuss the issue.

The planning committee will make a decision on the application within the next 28 days.