MOVE over chaps! Muscle-bound ladies are looking to put the town on the map at the town’s first Bolton Strongwoman event.

About a dozen women are expected to take part in the strength contest which will run alongside the popular Strongman Bolton competition.

Thousands of people flock to the town centre each summer to watch men go head-to-head for the title of Strongman Bolton.

This year, Bolton’s Strength and Fitness Festival will involve a two-day event in Victoria Square in the town centre.

Andy Seddon, director of Angry Anvils Ltd, the company which spearheads the event, said the event would be a boost for Bolton’s economy.

Mr Seddon said: “It is the biggest amateur Strongman event and best attended amateur event in the UK. People have such a good time.

“The first Bolton Strongman event started on a playground in Farnworth with a couple of hundred people watching. This year we are looking at attracting an 8,000 footfall to Victoria Square — including shoppers. Last year was just incredible.

“The festival will boost Bolton, it will bring money to the town centre’s economy without a doubt.”

People from all over the UK have entered the competitions, including a number of athletes from Bolton.

The weekend’s line-up will include dance and martial arts performances and athletes competing for the Strongman and Strongwoman titles will be attempting to lift heavy sandbags, a two tonne Royal Artillery field gun and railway sleepers.

It will be the fourth year that strongmen have taken part in the event but women will take part in the contest for the first time.

Mr Seddon said: “I am proud that the event is in my home town.

“The event will appeal to anyone of any age or background.

“It’s exciting, it’s fun and it focuses on motivating the community into positive fitness and strength training.”

The event will be held in memory of Jim Halliday, from Bolton, who secured a bronze medal in weightlifting in the 1948 London Olympic Games at the age of 30 — despite just a couple of years earlier weighing just six stones when he was a prisoner of war.

Mr Seddon said: “Jim Halliday is always going to be a part of the event. His story is inspiring.

“He was at the absolute pits of life during the war when he was captured as a prisoner then proved that human spirit can go from absolutely nothing to winning Olympic and Commonwealth medals.”

The festival will be held on Saturday, July 26 and Sunday, July 27.