ANGRY residents have launched a petition against a development they claim will “stick out like a sore thumb”.

Householders in and around Hillsborough Drive, Unsworth, are opposing a planning application to convert a bungalow on the drive into a dormer bungalow.

Mrs Ruth Court (75) said: “Our main objection is that it would be totally out of place and not in keeping with the rest of the homes in the area. It is on a stretch of the road which are all traditional bungalows so it will stick out like a sore thumb.”

The application is to raise the ridge height of the roof/roof extension with dormers at the front to the existing bungalow to form a first floor.

In addition, the owners are applying to have single storey extensions at the front and rear, including a two-storey glass frontage at the entrance.

Mrs Court, who has already collected a petition of almost 100 signatures, said: “People are appalled by what has been proposed. It just doesn’t look right in the area.”

She added: “If people convert bungalows into what we regard as houses, then there is going to be no housing stock for elderly people.

“I used to live in a four-bedroomed house but, like a lot of people my age, I downsized to a bungalow.”

Mrs Court and fellow objector Sue White, who also lives on Hillsborough Drive, delivered the petition to Bury Council’s planning offices on Monday.

A decision is expected to be made in December.

Mrs Court said: “The owners only bought the property this year, so why buy a bungalow that they want to convert when there are already plenty of existing houses on the market?”