A NEW skateboard park will be officially opened this weekend in a bid to keep teenagers off the streets.

The £45,000 facility is being launched on Blindsill Field, Farnworth, on Sunday.

There will be a demonstration by professional skateboarder Andy Scott on the various specialist equipment, including a quarter pipe, spine ramp and grind benches.

The facility is being opened on land between Ramsay Avenue and Macdonald Avenue, after complaints from young people in Bolton that there are no skateboard facilities in the town.

Councillors have welcome the new park, and hope it will be a springboard for other new facilities in the area.

The launch day will include fun and games in six marquees, with a live performance by Urban Strawberry Lunch and a workshop to design a sign for the park.

Graffiti designs will be created by teenagers and sprayed onto walls at the park.

Representatives from the police and fire service are expected to attend the launch.

In July, council bosses introduced a new bylaw banning skateboarders from the town centre after a series of near misses with members of the public and damage to stonework in Victoria Square. Skaters now face a £500 fine if caught.