PLANS to build a visitor centre in Little Lever as part of a £32 million project to revamp the Manchester, Bolton and Bury canal have moved a step forward.

A feasibility study to assess proposals for the development at the Nob End lock flight has now been launched by British Waterways and the Waterways Trust.

And clean-up work to remove debris from the site is now under way.

The site was chosen for the tourist information centre -- which is intended to be the central focus for the restoration development -- because of its six unusual locks.

The area is also being considered as a site for restaurant boats, fishing facilities and cycle paths.

Project manager Marcus Chaloner said that the development's design would be in keeping with the area.

The senior landscape architect said: "We want to make the most of the qualities of the stretch of canal there. It should be a focal point for the whole development.

"It should be a magnificent site."

The visitor centre will feature slides, photographs, diaries and memoirs of life on the canal. It is also hoped to allow schoolchildren to visit.

Mr Chaloner added: "We also want it to include a bit about the history of Little Lever itself, how the canal has affected life there and its many spin-off industries." People have been asked to send project bosses photographs and their memories of the canal to be used at the centre.

Mr Chaloner said: "We are always looking at what we could include in the centre and we have had a positive response from the Bolton public."

It is hoped that 6,000 jobs will be created by the canal's 12-mile restoration, which could also boost the region's tourism trade by £6 million.

Major work on the project is due to start next year for completion in 2006.

Work on Little Lever's visitor centre may also start next year, subject to planning permission.

The Manchester, Bolton and Bury canal runs from Salford to Kearsley where it splits in two. The left arm leads to Bolton through Little Lever and the other stretches on to Bury.

For details on how to submit memories, contact historian Fiona Welch on 0161 819 5847.