RESIDENTS have drawn up a petition and sent letters to the council as they fight plans to demolish a former hospital and replace it with 86 homes.

Bolton Council has received 20 letters and a large petition from people living near to the Hospital Road site in Bromley Cross.

Objectors say the scheme will deprive them of privacy and the extra homes will create parking and traffic problems.

The scheme has already been granted outline planning permission but the residents are hopeful councillors will perform a U-turn on final approval.

The former Blair Hospital building became an institute of Islamic higher Education after it was sold by the regional health authority in the early 1990s.

Barratt Homes has submitted plans to build 86 properties 70 apartments and 16 detached houses.

Angela Hayes, aged 36, of Hospital Road, said: "I'm not against the land being developed, I just think the plans need to be scaled down.

"It's already a struggle to get in or out of Bromley Cross in the morning because the traffic's so bad and where are all these people going to be parking?

Mrs Hayes, a geography teacher and mother-of-one, added: "They're going to be removing trees and pulling down a beautiful building for something that isn't going to be in keeping with the local area.

Bolton Council's head of planning, Howard Barratt, said the council had received 20 letters of objection and a petition. He said: "The detailed planning application was submitted in February. The site has been visited by a planning officer in the past week and the application will probably go before committee for final approval in June or July.

"The plans were granted outline planning permission in May 2004, so it's really too late to revisit the whole idea of having the development. At this stage we're concerned with the details.

"The building is actually still occupied by the Islamic College.

Mr Barratt said that the council would negotiate an agreement for the developer to provide facilities for the area.

He added that many of the objections that had been recieved were over the felling of trees on the site.