A PRIEST who instilled a love of music in hundreds of Bolton children has died of cancer at the age of 82.

Father Michael McGovern taught music at Thornleigh Salesian College, Astley Bridge, from 1949 to 1983, forming a choir and an orchestra as well as a popular brass band that performed all over the North West.

He was so well loved by his former pupils that old members of his band asked if they could play at his funeral requiem mass in Bolton.

Father Michael Cunningham, Rector of Thornleigh who worked with Father McGovern for many years, said: "He was a very forceful character, with a lot of drive and energy. He taught children with Lancashire accents but when they sang they all had Scottish accents -- because he was a Scot."

Originally from Glasgow, Father McGovern joined the Salesian priesthood -- a Roman Catholic Religious order founded by St John Bosco in the 19th century -- to work with young people.

In 1983 Father McGovern left Thornleigh, becoming a curate in a Durham parish after a year's sabbatical.

Father Cunningham said that even when Father McGovern became ill himself, he still visited the sick.

Father McGovern was buried at Astley Bridge Cemetery.