RESIDENTS are calling for action to clean up a patch of land which they claim is being used as a rubbish dump.

They fear the fenced-off area at the rear of the Lidgett Hotel, Great Harwood, is becoming a breeding ground for rats.

Discarded vegetables, old boxes and polystyrene litter the site which was used last year to house a pony.

Harry Dewhurst, of Dryden Grove, claims the problem has become worse over the last six months.

He said the site has become an "eyesore" not only for the nearby residents, but also drivers heading into the town along Blackburn Road.

Mr Dewhurst said: "It is disgraceful. The fact is that, instead of a grassy hollow inhabited by quite a variety of wildlife and where local children could play, we now have a rubbish dump infested with rats.

"I would like to see it cleaned up and restored to how it was before."

Another resident, Mrs Margaret Talbot, whose house backs on to the land, said the council's environmental health officers had been called in after rats were spotted.

Mrs Talbot, of Blackburn Road, explained: "It is rat infested. They are attracted by all the rubbish.

"They are nesting under a neighbour's shed. The officer found around five holes where the rats are nesting and put poison down."

Hyndburn Council is investigating who owns the land.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.