BOLTON Council has officially taken over land earmarked for a £40 million development after a judge rejected a landowners' bid to stop a compulsory purchase order.

The Watersmeeting site is part of an entertainments park which would create 1,000 jobs and include Richard Branson's Virgin multi-screen.

Landowners Tudor Properties and McGrath Plant Hire applied for an injunction at Salford County Court to prevent the council implementing a compulsory purchase order. They claimed the council had promised it would not take possession of the land before January 1998.

But Judge David Gilliland QC ruled that the council was justified in rescinding the agreement because one of the tenants - Centredart - refused to leave.

He said: "One has to consider the public interest if there is a real risk of the development not going ahead, and the effect not simply to the local authority but to the inhabitants of the area generally and that interest has to be weighed against the interests of the plaintiffs. It is of benefit to the public that this scheme goes ahead and there is a real danger that it will not go ahead."

Frances Patterson, acting for the landowners, said her clients would now seek a judicial review.

Noel McGrath, of McGrath Plant Hire, added: "We entered into an agreement with the local authority and we expected them to abide by that agreement."

But the council moved onto the land yesterday and work is expected to begin shortly. Trevor Grundy, of the council's legal department, said: "There is now no injunction preventing us from taking possession of the land. We will give Mr McGrath a fortnight to remove plant and machinery."

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