THE BEN SAYS: Just when it looked like the bridge problems were being sorted out -- the spectre of contaminated land is now raised.

Bolton Council has been warned that an action plan to tackle contaminated land locally could well cost millions.

The authority is looking to identify and investigate polluted sites which pose a risk to the public. Landowners will be expected to meet the costs of making them safe. But, as the Council owns a major slice of the land locally, this bill could land back in the lap of the borough's residents.

Cllr John Walsh has already warned that this investigation may well eclipse the cost of strengthening a series of weak bridges owned by Railtrack. This is estimated at over £8.5 million. Bolton has a rich industrial past. Unfortunately, the downside of this is a heritage of dumping industrial waste which already blights various sites.

A huge dump of chromium used in the leather tanning industry, for example, lies beneath Moses Gate Country Park. Last December, chemicals which could cause skin irritation leaked into water there.

It would be easy to cover such sites and hope for the best. Bolton Council is not prepared to do this but to face the situation, estimate the size of the problem, and take action.

This is a sensible move. The Council is guardian of public safety and, if it has any reason to believe that local people's health and welfare may be at risk, it must tackle it -- whatever the cost.