BOLTON councillors could throw out plans for a supertip at Red Moss following a bid by the outgoing mayor and a former Tory leader to force a vote on the issue.

Cllr Alan Rushton and Cllr John Hanscomb submitted a Notice of Motion on the tip plans to be debated at the next meeting of the full Council in June.

The motion calls on the Council to support Bolton West MP Tom Sackville's plea to scrap the tip plans in the light of widespread opposition and the ecological value of the land as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Bolton Council's leadership has voiced support for the tip plan and hopes to run the huge landfill at Red Moss in partnership with refuse disposal giants, UK Waste. A planning application for the scheme is currently with the authority and is due to be considered shortly. The Council's Labour Leader, Cllr Bob Howarth, has said the tip, which will take waste from the whole of Greater Manchester, will generate about £2 million a year in revenue for the cash-strapped authority.

But the plan has been met with stiff opposition from local residents, a host of environmental groups - including the government's powerful watchdog, the Environment Agency - and from within the Council leadership's own Labour ranks.

Bolton West's Labour candidate in the General Election, Ruth Kelly declared her opposition to the tip and shortly afterwards the Bolton West Constituency Labour Party followed suit.

Liberal Democrats on the Council have opposed the Red Moss proposals for a number of years and the Tories have backed anti-tip campaigners recently. Bolton's new mayor, Eric Johnson and three other Labour councillors representing Horwich and Blackrod, defied their party leaders, declaring opposition to the plans and if more Labour councillors join the rebellion the tip scheme will be dumped by the Council.

One of the Tory councillors behind the motion, Cllr Hanscomb said: "We have previously made it clear that the views of local people, the weight of new scientific opinion and the impact of any future development of the area should be taken into account.

"Bolton Council has an inherent duty to resolve this matter as swiftly as possible and it is to be hoped that our Notice of Motion will force the Labour Council to recognise that it is wrong to continue its tacit support for these unwarranted proposals. "We would hope the every councillor who opposes the supertip will support the motion regardless of political affiliation and the Party Whip."

But even if the Councillors withdraw their support for the plan, it will not necessarily mean the end of the Red Moss saga. It is likely that UK Waste will appeal against the Council's decision leading to a public inquiry.

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