COMMUNITIES Secretary Eric Pickles boosted the hopes of campaigners calling for a town council in Atherton during a trip to the town.

The Conservative cabinet minister appeared at Victoria Mill to receive a petition of about 2,000 signatures from independent councillor Norman Bradbury, who has consistently called for a town council to be set up in Atherton.

There was anger from a group of Atherton residents and local Labour councillors who said they were unable to hear what Mr Pickles had to say after being shut out of the mill building.

Mr Pickles told those who were allowed inside that he will be bringing in new legislation that will ease the process of setting up town or parish councils.

He said: “What I am going to do is change the way in which you can get a parish council.

"What has happened here is not unique. You have to jump over too many hurdles to get there and we hope to get this out before Parliament ends before the General Election.

“I cannot understand why another council doesn’t want a parish or a town council.

"They look after local people, they take a keen interest in the local area — you can devolve powers to them and it means the council can look after more strategic things, so why they object to it?"

Cllr Bradbury and fellow campaigners have twice organised petitions calling for an Atherton Town Council in 2009 and 2013 — with Wigan Council both times stating that the turnouts were too low.

He said: “We would have to wait two years before we could submit another — so we felt one option was to ask Mr Pickles to arbitrate for us.

"He could potentially insist that the council hold a referendum.

“He is obviously going to change some legislation already — he hasn’t come to give us nothing.”

A group of Atherton residents, including some Labour councillors, said they were barred from entering the meeting.

Atherton councillor Karen Aldred said: “They point blank refused to allow us to go in. We stood there and didn’t say a word and yet they put the shutters down and had a bouncer outside.

“It was all very cloak and dagger. I live in Atherton and have done for years and yet I wasn’t allowed in.”