June 8th, 2006

A UK watchdog group has ruled that a firm looking at redeveloping an old asbestos factory to create residential properties provided miseleading information in advertising. MMC Estate and Countryside properties are said to have sent out tens of thousand of flyers with regards to the site, which is located in the Rochdale area of Manchester in England.

When advertising, the firm is said to have claimed that the rubble at the site in the Spodden Valley was free from asbestos. The firm is now being looked into by the Advertising Standards Authority after complaints were received by a number of residents that claimed that the code of honesty and truthfulness had been breached.

The concerns raised are that any dumped asbestos and debris could be disturbed as part of the development, and because asbestos is a known carcinogenic the health of workers as well as residents and locals could be at risk.

Claims that "the landowners, MMC Estates and the Rathbone Trust are committed to the comprehensive remediation of the entire site including the wooded area" were branded as misleading by the Advertising Standards Authority.