BOSSES at Bolton Council are being told to practise what they preach.

The council is being rapped by Westhoughton resident John Wood who claims contractors working on a road scheme in the town left behind a mound of rubbish.

Mr Wood said only a few weeks ago, Jeff Layer, head of the council's environmental management, hit out at the public, whom he blamed for most of the borough's litter problems.

Mr Wood said the council contractors, while installing traffic lights at Chorley Road/Church Street, were based in a car park at the junction of Dixon Street with Chorley Street.

"The mess they left is absolutely appalling. There are boxes, cables, a bollard and a road lamp lying around. It is a disgrace," said Mr Wood, of Chorley Road.

"As well as having left the place in a mess with their litter, they also left behind bits of brick which is a ready store of ammunition for children to throw at windows."

He said the rubbish had been there for two weeks and he had been going to write a letter of complaint, but on Thursday he contacted the BEN after becoming angry at finding four windows smashed at Wingates Independent Methodist Church, bordering the car park.

"That has really annoyed me. They have only been broken because there was a pile of ammunition nearby."

Mr Wood said it had also encouraged other people to put more rubbish on the site.

But a council spokesman said the contractors had cleared up all their rubbish when they left, and blamed fly tippers for the problem.

He said the fly tipping had been reported to the council's cleansing department who were removing the rubbish yesterday.

But Mr Wood hit back, saying 99pc of the rubbish was down to the contractors.

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