ANTI-TIP campaigners and environmentalists were celebrating today after the Battle for Red Moss was declared officially over.

UK Waste, who were refused permission to turn the peat bog in Horwich into a massive waste tip to serve the needs of Greater Manchester, announced today they will not be appealing against Bolton Council's refusal.

The waste disposal giants had planned to develop the site in partnership with Bolton Council which would have generated cash for local authority coffers.

But after a lengthy campaign by local residents and environmental groups during which time part of the area was declared a Site of Special Scientific Interest, councillors voted to reject the plan last October. UK Waste had until today to lodge an appeal against the decision which would have led to a public inquiry but Dr Neil Varey speaking for the company said they did not intend to pursue the plan.

But Dr Varey said: "The people and politicians of Greater Manchester must be aware that this decision makes more acute the pending waste management problem facing the area which will soon run out of disposal outlets.

And there was a suggestion from Dr Varey that there was a possibility that part of the site could be earmarked again for development in future though on a much smaller scale.

He added: "UK Waste are continuing to pursue a strategy for dealing with the region's waste through a combination of maximising recycling, recovery and composting and hence we need new landfill capacity in the area. This could still involve to some lesser extent usage of the Red Moss area."

But with the SSSI now officially safe, former Secretary of the Red Moss Action Committee, John Acton said he was "over the moon" at the news. He said: "Hopefully we can get things moving now and work with English Nature to develop it as a proper wildlife site which will complement Rivington and the new stadium development."

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