THE council has generated more than £11m by selling land and property over the last six years.

A total of 192 assets were sold by the council since April 2013 adding millions of pounds to its capital budget.

The University of Bolton made the single largest purchase of the council's assets when it bought a former housing site for £2.5m in December 2015.

The site east of College Way is now the National Centre for Motorsport Engineering.

Other major sales were made to PSP Bolton LLP, a private sector partnership which manages former council assets.

The council still gets an income from its share in the company which generates money through sales and rental income.

Research by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism found that councils raised a total of £9.1bn since 2013 by selling thousands of public spaces such as libraries, community centres and playgrounds.

Some councils are using this money to pay for hundreds of redundancies, including in vital frontline services.

This comes as councils take ever more desperate measures to balance their books.

However, in Bolton, town hall chiefs have reinvested these capital receipts into other projects.

Council leader Linda Thomas said the local authority has used specific ring-fenced capital investment to mitigate the impact of austerity.

She said: “The Labour council which I lead listened to taxpayers very early-on and adopted a strategy that uses capital receipts so it benefits our towns across Bolton.

"It isn’t for any Council to spend this money as it wishes, it’s about putting it back into our towns and ensuring these receipts benefit every taxpayer, their community and priorities.

"We have a strong track record to back this up. Labour used this specific ring-fenced capital investment to mitigate the impact of the Tories’ cuts since 2011 which is devastating our town’s infrastructure."

Capital investments announced recently include £16m for district town centres and a further £2m for highway improvements and road repairs.

Meanwhile, the £100m for town centre regeneration comes from the Manchester Airport dividend.

Cllr Thomas added: “Local Labour realised that the Tory government had turned its back on us and we would have to fend for ourselves.

"So we are fighting back to protect and invest in much valued services now and the future, not squander this hard-earned capital on day-to-day revenue; sharing the benefits for the many, not the few."