CHILDREN are being invited to help pass on Bolton's official Christmas greetings to hundreds of people.

The Mayor, Cllr Prentice Howarth, is contacting primary schools to ask pupils to design a festive card.

Each year, the Mayor sends out more than 300 cards to people and organisations across the borough.

But Cllr Howarth, who has named children's charities among among the key benificiaries of her Mayoral year, wants to get away from the more traditional offering.

"A lot of cards sent out by civic heads feature a local scene or even their town hall," she said. "But this year I'm looking for something different and I want to involve local children in the creation of a card which I hope will be rather special - a Christmas seen through their eyes."

Designs can be sent to: Christmas Card, The Mayor's Parlour, Town Hall, Bolton, BL1 1RU, by Friday, October 22, to give time for a winner to be chosen and the card to be printed.

Entrants should include their name, address, age and school with their design.

The winning card will incude the name of the boy or girl who created it and there will be prizes for the three best entries.