EDUCATION chiefs, politicians, business leaders and students are celebrating as the new University of Bolton finally came into being.

Cherished university status was granted to the Bolton Institute in April last year.

And on Thursday the Privy Council approved its new name - The University of Bolton - which came into effect immediately.

The news was greeted with celebration across the town which had been fighting for more than 10 years to win university status for the institute.

Today the university's vice-chancellor Mollie Temple said: "Today is an historic day in the life of our university. This is tremendous news for us and everyone associated with us."

Dr Brian Iddon, MP for Bolton South-east, said: "This is a great day. For seven years I have lobbied ministers and others involved in education so Bolton could have its own university.

"It is tremendously important that the new university had Bolton in its title because it gives the town the kudos it deserves. I think this will be a real bonus in pushing for city status."

Within hours of the announcement that the Institute's name had been changed, the new university's website was launched and its new logo displayed.

There had been fears that Bolton would have been dropped from the Institute's new name in favour of an alternative, such as North Manchester University or the University of the West Pennines.

But the institution's leaders and the town's politicians fought to ensure the name included Bolton.

Katherine Wilkes, President of the university's Student Union, said: "This is fantastic news. It will boost the employability of students here. Many felt Bolton Institute of Higher Education was a bit wishy-washy.

"The new name has greater relevance."

The new university has 8,000 students and they were full of praise for the new name. Ilyas Hassan, aged 23, said: "Changing the name to the University of Bolton will give our university more standing and prestige with future employers."

Iktisham Fayyaz, aged 19, said: "It now feels like a proper university, one to be respected."

Siobhan Davies, aged 19, said: "It will hopefully attract more students to the university."

Mark Wilson, aged 20, said: "We will get more respect and it will help to attract more funding to help complete the rebuilding of the university."

The Institute had battled for university status for more than 10 years. Each fight failed until last year and the name change means the battle is over.

The new university has the power to award degrees up to Masters level. Of its 8,000 full-time higher education students, at least 3,000 are on degree level courses.

The Institute's first application to use the title "university" was rejected in the 1980s. Institute management, along with the town's MPs, refused to give up and continued to keep up the pressure into the 1990s.

In 1997, hopes were raised when David Blunkett, then the Shadow Education Secretary, visited the town in anticipation of an election victory. Mr Blunkett said the Institute had met all the current conditions for elevation to university status.

Newly-elected Bolton North East MP David Crausby then called for university status to celebrate Wanderers promotion to the Premiership.

In 1998, Mr Blunkett, then Education Secretary, gave a delegation from the town a "clear indication" that the Institute would gain the status, although he could not say when.

When Mollie Temple took the helm as principal at the Institute in 1998, she believed the university title was just around the corner. But in 2000 the news broke that the agency had recommended rejecting the Institute's bid.

In March 2001 Mr Blunkett raised hopes again by saying a final decision would be made within a week. But the following week, the Privy Council announced it had rejected the bid.