RESIDENTS are up in arms about paintball wars near their town. They have asked local councillors to halt the war games in woodland on the outskirts of Horwich. The main complaint centres on the noise as 20 snipers in military garb fight for control of a combat zone off George's Lane.

The paintball enthusiasts do not need planning permission to play their games for less than 28 days a year because the privately land is not classed as a site of special scientific interest.

They have already played one game and another is planned for tomorrow.

But Cllr Barbara Ronson has asked the town hall to check if the company are sticking to the rules after complaints by residents who use the adjoining moorland.

She said: "The whole town seems to be talking about it and the main concern is the noise and bad language.

"It's not very nice for a family with kiddies out walking or picking blackberries to have to put with that kind of thing.

"It may not be a SSSI but it is a sensitive environmental area and there is also lot of concern about wildlife and footpaths being fenced off."

But organiser Clive Linney insisting that no footpaths have been blocked.

He said: "There is only one public footpath on the corner of the land and that is clear. In the past, the public have been going on land that they have no right of access to.

"The landlord has erected fences on the land but that is nothing to do with us and he has not blocked public access. We certainly do not encourage any bad language but if anyone got close enough to hear anything like that it would be because they were on land they should not have been on anyway."

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