Westhoughton Mayor Brian Clare fears the town may be unprepared for a major air disaster.

Jets fly low overhead on their way to Manchester Airport and Coun Clare says the town council needs to find out what emergency plans are in place -- and fast.

He said: "Planes fly so low over Westhoughton that you can read the writing on their wings. We need to know about the emergency procedure in case an accident happens. A large block of ice recently fell off a plane as it flew over Manchester. It's lucky no-one was killed." Phil Jones from Bolton Council's emergency planning unit said plans had been made for every kind of disaster.

He said: "We have plans in place for dealing with any kind of situation, whether it be a plane crash, a coach crash, an explosion or anything else.

"The blue-light services would be the first to respond. We would then deal with things like providing barriers, food and reception centres if people had to be moved out of their homes.

"Aircraft present a risk when they fly low over any town, but Bolton and Westhoughton are not in high-risk areas where planes are taking off and landing."

He said emergency plans had been reviewed following the September 11 terrorist attacks and were constantly being updated.