PRESTWICH councillor Wilf Davison got more than he bargained for when he asked local residents what they thought of their town.

For one woman hit him over the head with her shopping bag at an Area Board Listening Day held at the Longfield Suite in Prestwich.

The Listening Day was held to seek residents' views about what they wanted for their community.

People were invited to fill out questionnaires and their opinions would be passed on to the council, police and other groups to form a Local Community Plan. The dazed councillor for Holyrood ward said later: "The woman walked into the Longfield Suite and started shouting about various issues. She threw a few things around and when I went over to talk to her she hit me over the head."

Coun Davison, a member of the Prestwich Area Board, said he was not badly injured and would not take the matter further.

He said: "I'm alright, it hasn't bothered me. The Community Safety Wardens were around but everything had calmed down by the time they arrived."

The woman, believed to be in her 40s, was expressing her concern over a number of local issues when things got out of hand. Area co-ordinator Phil Parkinson said: "The woman was using foul language and threw some leaflets on the floor from one of the stands."

He said he noted her concerns and added that she was protesting about the treatment of pigeons and said they were God's creatures that shouldn't be killed.

And she complained about the telecommunications mast on the top of the Longfield Suite, which he admitted was a general concern among residents.

Coun Davison added: "She had some good points to put across but went about it in an unusual way."

The matter was not reported to the police.