TOWN HALL bosses have officially given their support to ambitious multi-million pound plans to bring Bolton's "lost" canal back to life.

Leading councillors have agreed to fight for thousands of pounds worth of funding to help to rebuild the Bolton, Bury and Manchester Canal and to use compulsory purchase orders where necessary.

Their backing is designed to keep on track a £32 million scheme to restore the historic waterway.

Council workers will be made available to British Waterways, which is the brains behind the scheme and which says the project is its "highest priority".

It is intended to fully reinstate the canal which runs from Manchester to Bolton and Bury. It passes through Bolton town centre, near Churchgate.

Council leaders hope the scheme will lead to a development in Bolton similar to the Castlefield one in Manchester, with trendy bars on the canalside in the town centre

They have appealed to bodies -- such as the European Regional Development Fund, English Partnerships, Heritage Lottery Funding and the North West Development Agency -- to contribute money to the scheme.

Council Leader Bob Howarth said: "We are thrilled at the thought of the whole of the canal eventually being opened.

"We shall be offering whatever help we can to British Waterways."

Marcus Challinor, project manager for British Waterways, said: "This resolution by Bolton Council to formally support the restoration of the canal is another significant step forward.

"By working together and using our skills and resources, the full potential of the canal can be realised."

Construction of the waterway began in 1791 and it served Bolton for more than 140 years before its closure in 1936.

The restoration plan faces formidable difficulties with long sections of the canal having been filled in -- and only one third of it still has water.

Seventeen locks and more than a dozen bridges would need to be rebuilt.

work is expected to start next year and be completed in 2006.