SCOUTS will say a final farewell this weekend to a campsite which is closing after 50 years.

Scouts, cubs and beavers will descend on Hulton Park from September 17 to 19, a site popular as an annual retreat for group outings.

But it will be the last time they see the popular focal point, as the Bolton Scout Trust gets set to move to a new home at Heath Charnock, near Chorley.

The move was prompted following a rise in the lease agreement at Hulton Park, Over Hulton. The previous landowner Sir Geoffrey Hulton allowed the Scouts to use the land on a peppercorn rent but he died recently and the 21-year-old lease was up.

And with the wooden buildings on the site having been destroyed in an arson attack a few years ago, the Scouts decided it was time to go.

The Mayor and Mayoress of Bolton will be at the farewell event on Saturday at 11.20am along with the mayors of Blackrod, Horwich and Westhoughton.

It is expected more than 600 people will attend the event on the 28-acre site.

Chairman of the Bolton Scout Trust Stephen Lewis said: "The event will be well supported. It's sad that we have to say farewell to a camp that has served us well for so long."

Attendance is by permit only which can be obtained from local Scout districts: Norman Moran at Bolton North on 01204 402984, Freda Haslam at Bolton South on 01942 812179, David Bootland at Bolton East on 01706 832725, Margaret Barlow at Bolton West on 01204 693359 and Colin Hilton at Farnworth on 01204 573012.