TEN-YEAR-OLDS Laurie Glendinning and Kate Surridge were so moved by residents bidding to preserve lodges and woodland near their home they dug deep and gave up their pocket money.

The pals, who attend Northern Primary School, Bacup, and live in Weir village, gave the money saying what the residents were trying to do "made sense."

Both would have spent their money on sweets, but said keeping the lodges was a better use.

Laurie said: "We come up here and have picnics and play with my friends and it would be a shame not to do that."

Kate said: "I come up here to take my dog for a walk and there is nowhere else for us to go in the village."

A planning application for a 42-house estate on the site of the former Irwell Springs mill off Heald Lane where the three lodges are has been deferred by Rossendale planners for the developer to find an alternative access.

And residents have formed a charitable trust to look to preserve lodges on the site, one of which the developer was proposing to fill in, and woodland in the area and are asking local residents to contribute to a fund to see the project through. Colour newsletters have been printed and distributed to every house in the village.

A recent traffic survey was carried out by the residents and John Glendinning, chairman of Weir Lodges and Woodland Trust, said: "We checked the traffic leaving Heald Lane and The Moorlands between 7am and 9am and noted which direction it went in.

"We found that there were 209 vehicles out and into Heald Lane and 87 out and into The Moorlands.

"This is an accurate assessment of the problems that we have now on the roads in the village.

"We have projected that once the development at Fell View is complete and if they ever complete the Irwell Springs the traffic will nearly double to about 400 traffic movements during morning rush hour which was the main concern of residents and reinforces the council's decision."

"Because we are 1,100ft up in Weir there is also a concern about access during the winter months. Currently many people opt to park on the main road when it is snowy because access up Heald Lane is difficult -- where are all the extra cars going to go?"