Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has written a first-person plea to voters in the town.

He said: "It was wonderful to see hundreds of Labour supporters come to the University of Bolton stadium when I visited Bolton this summer.

"But it was little surprise to see the hunger for change in Bolton when years of under-investment and neglect by Westminster have left too many parts of the North West stuck with underpaid jobs, dilapidated high streets and slow growth.

"On a visit to the town centre, I heard how high street stores like Starbucks, Toys R Us and Lush have left Bolton, alongside the vitally important independent stores that bring so much character to towns everywhere. And town centre retail spaces are now left vacant or boarded up, like the former BHS in Victoria Square or parts of Beales.

"Across the country Labour has found that almost 30,000 shops have been left vacant for at least a year. Once thriving high streets are becoming ghost streets.

"Boarded-up shops are a sorry symbol of the malign neglect that this failed Tory government means for towns and communities around the UK.

"It is a national disgrace that more than 14million people in this country are in poverty, and nine million people live in families where at least one adult works. And it is because of appalling political choices made by Tory governments that real wages are still lower than before the financial crisis - while dividends paid to shareholders are up 85 per cent.

"What better indication of the Tories' disdain for the needs of people in this country than their plans to sell-out our treasured NHS in a toxic trade deal with Donald Trump?

"Or the disgraceful inaction from the Conservatives in the face of the wake of the Grenfell tragedy - which Bolton had an all too dangerous reminder of with the blaze that ripped through The Cube student halls in Bradshawgate last month.

"At the current rate of removal of dangerous cladding from buildings - less than three buildings per month - it would take until October 2022 for the work to be completed on the remaining 267 blocks, almost three years after the deadline. And the rate at which cladding is being removed from private blocks is even worse, at only one per month, meaning it would take until October 2033 for the buildings to be made safe - more than 13 years later than the government's target.

"None of this would be happening happen under a Labour government that would be on your side.

"Labour will revitalise high streets and bring power back to communities. We will put an end to bank branch closures, we’ll ban ATM charges and we’ll save every crown Post Office by establishing publicly-owned Post Banks - with more than 450 across the North West.

"This means that every community will have easy access to face-to-face, trusted and affordable banking, and that there is always free support and advice on how to launch, manage and grow a business.

"Labour’s plan to raise the minimum wage will make sure more money ends up in the pockets of workers.

"Our real living wage means that across the North West, nearly 900,000 workers aged 16 and over will have an immediate pay rise. And we’ll immediately end the scandal of more than 800,000 people in the North West being placed on Universal Credit by designing an alternative system that treats people with dignity and respect.

"Labour’s Green Industrial Revolution means that we will combine our urgent need to tackle climate change with an investment blitz on a scale not seen since the Second World War, bringing wealth, power and prosperity to communities.

"We’ll put £16 billion of new investment in the region from Labour’s Green Transformation Fund.

"Combined with upgrading houses to make warmer homes for all, investing in electric vehicle production and wind power, our plans mean we’ll create more than 110,000 good jobs in the North West.

"As I’ve said many times, regardless of how people voted on Brexit, the perils of unemployment, low wages and debt mean people divided by Brexit share the same struggle to make ends meet.

"The Labour Party wants to bring people together: it’s what we must do, it’s what we will do.

"But there’s only one way to end the disastrous Tory legacy, and that’s by voting in Labour MPs and a Labour government that will rewrite the rules of the economy so that it works for everyone.

"Boris Johnson’s Conservatives, who think they’re born to rule, will only look after the privileged few.

"But we know whose side we’re on - yours. So on Thursday, come out and vote Labour for the real change Bolton and the country needs."