A MAJOR housing battle between landowners and residents will be under the spotlight when a Government inspector comes to town next week.

Residents who have campaigned for years to stop wall-to-wall housing in Westhoughton eventually got Bolton Council on their side to halt the developers.

They want to protect the remaining open spaces in the town's planning blueprint for the next 10 years.

But the stance has angered landowners and developers who want to build thousands of houses and a number of industrial sites. They will be putting forward their arguments to the inspector.

The public inquiry into the Council's Unitary Development Plan (UDP) -- which sets out future proposals for housing, employment, conservation, open land, transport and the town centre -- will open at Bolton Town Hall on Tuesday.

The inquiry will look at objections made to the UDP and consider the future of the Green Belt.

Westhoughton is the main area of contention. The land under scrutiny includes 280-acre Hulton Park estate, Lee Hall, Ditchers Farm, Slack Lane to Wingates, and the Church Lane area.

"The developers want every field," said Westhoughton Cllr David Wilkinson.

"If it has a blade of grass on it, they want to build on it and any more development would make Westhoughton an unbearable place to live.

"If the developers win we would have wall-to-wall housing from Dicconson Lane right through to the Hulton estate parkland.

"We are praying that we get a good inspector who realises the problems we will face."

The inquiry will consider the Green Belt and open land issues in Westhoughton next Thursday, November 29, and housing land objections from January 23 to February 6.