ANGRY town councillors are writing to the Department of the Environment about mini earthquakes which have shaken local homes to the foundations. They are calling on the Government to review guidelines which allow opencast mining operations. Residents in the Lower Leigh Road area of Daisy Hill claim the tremors are being caused by blasting at a nearby Schofield opencast site.

Now Westhoughton town councillors are to write to the Government about the earthquakes which have caused furniture to move and pictures to fall from walls.

Labour Cllr Mrs Linda Thomas said: "We have been told that the blasting levels are within the legal limits.

"If this is the case, then the limits are wrong and should be changed.

"We feel that we have to bring this to the Government's attention now because if people discover problems with their homes in future years, then we will have the evidence of what caused it." But Liberal Democrat Cllr David Wilkinson hit out at the Labour group for what he claimed was "playing politics."

Shadow Environment Secretary Frank Dobson visited the Schofield site last week.

Cllr Wilkinson said: "We have said all along that we are against opencast mining and would not allow it to happen."

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