DELIGHTED protesters were celebrating today after a massive tide of people power forced Bolton councillors to kick out plans for the controversial Red Moss super-tip.

The weight of a huge10,000 name petition fighting the landfill tip plan - and a touching appeal from a 10-year-old schoolboy - helped sway the decision of Bolton's planning committee.

A hefty 45-page report by planning officers which concluded the environmental disadvantages outweighed the benefits of running the tip also recommended the plans should be rejected.

Disappointed tip developer UK Waste said they would examine the council's decision in detail before deciding what action to take.

At yesterday's Bolton Council planning control sub-committee chairman Cllr Jack Foster said: "A 10-year-old boy came down here and gave me a huge petition. After that I thought I'd better start thinking very seriously about this decision."

As councillors voted to reject the planning application cheers and applause rang out from the public gallery.

Opposition from residents and environmental groups to the proposal to create a 87 hectare landfill tip on Red Moss at Horwich has been fierce. It is one of a few remaining peat bog sites and has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by English Nature.

After the meeting chairman of the Red Moss Action Committee Barry Thornton said: "We're delighted and its a great relief. But we must stress that we are still on alert and the campaigning goes on.

"We have won a crucial battle but not the war. We will now be lobbying to get the site re-designated. As it stands at the moment it is still classed as a site for tipping - we want that to change so that it can become a protected wildlife haven."

Matthew Cunningham, the schoolboy who touched the heart of planning chief Cllr Foster, was in the public gallery for the meeting.

Afterwards he said: "I thought it was really important for me and all my friends to keep a big tip off Red Moss. I think it is important to look after birds and animals and places they live in. So I wanted to help the people stop it."

Matthew, a pupil of Chorley New Road CP school in Horwich, has written to Bolton West MP Tom Sackville and Prime Minister John Major as part of the anti-Red Moss campaign. The Red Moss campaigners want to see the site protected and developed as a wildlife haven which could become a tourist attraction alongside the new Wanderers stadium and the popular Rivington scenery.

Labour Cllr Laurie Williamson sounded a note of caution about the future of waste disposal without the Red Moss tip.

He said: "I don't think this issue will go away. It has not been cleared up forever. There is still going to be great demand for waste disposal in some way or another." His warning was backed by UK Waste's northern general manager Neil Varey. He said: "Capacity for landfill is disappearing fast. More recycling is certainly part of the solution and UK Waste is at the forefront of that.

"However recycling will only go a small way towards resolving what is fast becoming a growing waste crisis that needs to be assessed by everyone who lives and works in Greater Manchester."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.