A VICTORIAN mineshaft built by Fred Dibnah as a 'monument to his life' in his back garden has been saved.

Council officers met in private on Thursday at Bolton Town Hall to discuss the future of the controversial mineshaft, and agreed it can stay.

And it could now form the centrepiece of the Fred Dibnah Experience - an attraction celebrating engineering and the celebrity's life.

The project's future was uncertain after neighbours living in The Haulgh asked planners to fill in the hole, saying the mineshaft was not in keeping with a residential area.

But 154 residents and neighbours disagreed and signed a petition supporting the mineshaft plans.

Letters of support were also received from Bolton Civic Trust and the Mines Rescue Service.

Today (FRIDAY), Fred's widow, Sheila, said: 'I'm delighted with the news. It's a particularly fine specimen of engineering.

'If the plans do go ahead, visitors will be granted access by special invitation only. It wouldn't be like a theme park. The last thing I want to do is disturb people or upset any of my neighbours.'

Fred, who died last November aged 66, built the mineshaft without permission at his home in Radcliffe Road, Bolton.

He later sought retrospective planning permission for the shaft which he said was going to be a monument to his life.

The steeplejack had dug 20 feet of the 70ft shaft and had plans for a 90ft tunnel from the mineshaft to the banks of the River Tonge.

But his original planning application was rejected by Bolton Council's planning committee in March when it was ruled that the noise would have an adverse impact on neighbours.

On Thursday, residents repeated their worries that it could destabalise the surrounding land.

They were also concerned that plans to turn his historic home into the Fred Dibnah Experience, complete with working steam engines and mineshaft, would cause an increase in public attention and worsen traffic and parking problems.

But Cllr Nicholas Peel, who represents Tonge With The Haulgh ward, said the council voted to preserve the home-made mineshaft after deciding it was 'not in the public interest to take enforcement action simply on the grounds it had been built without permission'.

Speaking after the meeting, which was held behind closed doors for 'legal reasons', Cllr Peel said: 'The mineshaft will stay where it is.

'All this started because the shaft was constructed without planning permission and I can understand the concerns of some of the neighbours.

'They are worried the mineshaft will attract large numbers of visitors to the site but I don't believe this will be the case now that Fred is no longer with us - he was the main draw.

'The responsibility of keeping visitors to the site safe, lies with the owners of the property and they have been instructed that they cannot do anything else with that land.'

But resident Doug Summers, aged 64, of Castle Street, who lives opposite the property, maintains the site is totally unsuitable for even small groups to visit.

Mr Summers said: 'The council's conclusion doesn't surprise me in the least. There's been no sense of urgency about this, in fact the planning officers seem to have been looking for reasons not to do anything about it.

'This is a residential property in an residential area. There's no on-site parking and parking on the street is already a problem.

'I suppose it's a positive that the owners will not be allowed to do anything else with the site but I still don't know why the meeting was held in private. Why should a hole in the ground be a big secret?'