Religious figures and campaigners gathered in Victoria Square, Bolton, yesterday, to mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery.

Campaigners held a banner aloft which carried the phrase: "Cotton on with Bolton 1807-2007. Stop slavery again."

Joined by supporters, they gathered at noon, the exact time that the Act was signed in the House of Commons in 1807.

Local author Mike Cresswell was among the group. He said: "We wanted to highlight the fact that there are probably more slaves in the world now than there were in 1807 when the slave trade was abolished.

"There was African music, a reading from the autobiography of American slave, James Watkins, who briefly lived in Bolton and an Act of Commitment in which we made a pledge that we would continue to fight slavery."

An evening of entertainment and reflection to mark the anniversary was organised by the Embrace Art and Drama Project and Bolton Vision and Respect Counselling on Friday.

The evening, held at Bolton Town Hall, included performances from drummers, presentations, art workshops, exhibitions and a debate about slavery.

Project leader Donald Gayle said: "We wanted to do something here in Bolton.

"This is something that all communities can get involved with and anyone was welcome."

For over 400 years, from the mid-15th century, Europeans enslaved millions of Africans through the transatlantic slave trade. It is thought that over 12 million Africans were loaded on to slave ships and that over three million people died.

When the cotton industry in Lancashire went into a period of boom in the early 1800s, a parallel increase in cotton production was required on the slave plantations. This meant using more slaves.

The Slave Trade Abolition Bill was passed in Parliament on March 25, 1807.