A LEADING Bolton doctor has told how the cost of The BIG Bolton Health Check will be the best £1 million the Primary Care Trust will spend this year.

Dr Stephen Liversedge, who is spearheading the campaign, said the PCT will spend £410 million from April, 2008, to April, 2009, but the cash invested in the health check “was the best million of the 410 in terms of saving lives”.

He made the claim as health trainers started to target Westhoughton as part of their efforts to get everyone aged over 45 across the borough to take the check.

Town councillors in Westhoughton are so keen to see everyone eligible for the test to take part that they led the way and took the check themselves at a meeting of the town council.

Health chiefs want to test 46,000 people aged over 45 by March next year.

About 15,000 people who have been identified as being high risk are now receiving treatment or have been advised to make lifestyle changes to reduce their risk of developing heart disease, which can lead to heart attacks and stroke.

Dr Liversedge said: “While Bolton and Westhoughton are great places to live we don’t actually live in them as long as we should do.

“We die before our time because of heart and circulatory disease. As a primary care trust, we have a responsibility to do something about that."

He added: “I am very pleased the town council has taken this on board. It is very important for the public to see our local leaders participating in this health check and sending out the message of how important it is.”

The Mayor of Westhoughton, Cllr David Chadwick, said: “The test was absolutely fine, it didn’t hurt a bit. I am very pleased they are looking to promote it here in Westhoughton."

Anyone over 45 is entitled to a free health check by contacting their GP’s surgery or by going along to The BIG Bolton Health Check events in the community, including ones at bingo halls, supermarkets, pubs and cafes.