BOLTON town centre will be transformed into a bustling Victorian street market on Bank Holiday Monday attracting hundreds of visitors from all over the North-west.

The traditional street market -- which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year -- is Bolton's biggest charity event.

Organisers say the market, and a host of other Bolton Festival events, will make Bolton the place to be over the Bank Holiday weekend.

The popular event, featuring stalls around the Town Hall, will run from 10am to 4.30pm on Monday. In addition to the stalls there will be street entertainers, food and raffles. Many of the stallholders will be in fancy dress.

In addition to the market, as part of the festival, staff at the Magistrates Court in Le Mans Crescent will open the doors of the courthouse to the public to give an insight into the daily workings of the justice system. It is hoped that it might even encourage would-be magistrates to offer their services and join the Bench.

The open day event will feature a series of both modern and Victorian mock trials.

Mrs Janet Taylor, Chairman of the Bolton Bench said: "We are hoping for a lot of interest from the public who may be curious to see the inside of the courts and perhaps would even be interested in becoming magistrates themselves in the future. If not, I'm sure those just looking for a family fun day out will find the mock trials very entertaining."

As well the visit to the court rooms there will be an opportunity to see inside the cells and the dock. The court event will be opened at 10.15am by the Court Crier dressed in Victorian costume and visitors attending the Victorian trials will see solicitors and magistrates dressed in period costume as well as a variety of "criminals" in the dock.

Other attractions at the court will include drink driving awareness demonstrations showing the strengths of different drinks and the effects they can on drivers. There will be a demonstration of the electronic tagging system and visitors will be able to take a virtual reality tour of the justice system, courtesy of the Crown Prosecution Service. Tickets for the mock trials are free and visitors may pick them up from the court foyer from 10am on the Bank Holiday Monday morning.

Weather experts a predicting a mixture of sun and showers over the Bank Holiday.