CONSTRUCTION of a care home in Whitefield has stalled as developers need more land.

For 15 years, entrepreneurs have sought to build a care home on the land occupied by the former Whitefield Town Hall in Pinfold Lane.

There have been several setbacks, but project leaders were hoping to begin work soon after overcoming a legal wrangle with Bury Council, which they thought was the final obstacle.

At March's meeting of Whitefield and Unsworth Township Forum, Debra Green said little progress had been made and the site is an eyesore for the town.

She added: "Residents are running out of patience. Why has the council's planning department let this go on for so long?"

Ms Green described the land as a magnet for anti-social behaviour and asked what the council was doing to sort it out.

The forum's chairman, Cllr Joan Grimshaw, said she would ask the council to provide an update and the council's department manager Dave Marno said: "Planning permission has been granted and has been implemented.

"The issue is now not about planning. It is about the owner securing the additional land required for the development."

He added that, until the issue was resolved, work could not progress and if the extra land could not be procured, developers might have to go back to the drawing board.