ALL eyes were on Bolton Council which was expected to become the eighth local authority in Greater Manchester to declare a climate emergency this week – but councillors ran out of time for a vote.

Efforts to put climate change at the top of the agenda at Wednesday’s council meeting were eventually successful but came too late – much to the disappointment of campaigners.

Dozens of people sat patiently in the public gallery for three and a half hours waiting for the climate change debate.

But after a tense discussion about bumping Labour’s motion to the top of the list, the meeting was adjourned and an additional session at a future date was arranged.

A chorus of campaigners shouted “shame” at the councillors for failing to vote for the declaration after they were told that all parties had agreed to put it at the top of the agenda.

Newly-elected councillor Martin McMulkin, who tabled the motion, was due to deliver his maiden speech at the council in support of the declaration.

He said: “I wasn’t bringing this motion on a party-political basis. I was bringing a motion to this council that affects every man, woman and child on this planet. There’s been a lot of talk in the newspapers when young people in Bolton came forward and pushed this.

“But that’s all it’s turned into – a lot of talk again. Playground antics in here. I’m embarrassed as a new councillor sat here to watch some of the shenanigans to avoid having this motion heard.”

Environmentalists stood outside the town hall ahead of the meeting, armed with banners and urging councillors to support a climate emergency declaration.

Among them was 18-year-old Paris Hayes who recently set up a climate emergency petition.

Green Party member Alan Johnson told The Bolton News that he was “disgusted” by the delays.

He said: “We just can’t understand why Bolton Council, or a section of it, are dragging their feet when seven out of ten Greater Manchester councils have already declared a climate emergency and we were hoping tonight we would be number eight.

Labour leader Linda Thomas told The Bolton News that the Lib Dems and UKIP agreed to wait for their motions to be heard so that the climate emergency declaration could be moved to the top of the list.

Cllr Thomas claims that she was told just four hours before the meeting that the Labour motion would remain at the bottom of the agenda.

She said: "I did what he asked me. I informed him that they had agreed. I assumed that he complied with everything he said."

Council leader David Greenhalgh said the ruling-group were "more than happy and prepared" to debate the Labour motion.

But he said the Tories had concerns over the precedent that was being set in asking the mayor to prioritise motions.

He said: “Our process is very clear and motions are taken in the order they are submitted, and if the Labour Group had wanted the climate emergency motion debated, they should have withdrawn their other motions.

“As it would have been 10:30pm before the motion began to be debated, the alternative that was put forward by the Conservative Group of an adjournment of the meeting to be reconvened at the earliest opportunity to deal with the climate change motion and others, to allow a full debate, was sensible and had the support of the majority of the chamber.”

The special meeting, at which the climate emergency motion will be the first item on the agenda, will take place on Thursday, August 29 at 7pm.