BOLTON is recording the lowest tuberculosis levels for years with health leaders praising the town's "effective" programmes of vaccination.

Bolton was one of the worst areas in the country for the disease a decade ago, but is now among the best.

It has had just 60 cases in the past 12 months.

Public health chief Jan Hutchinson said that the fall was due to the town's early detection and treatment as well as its inoculation programme.

Thousands of pupils were vaccinated against TB last spring to prevent a major outbreak.

Public health nurses also keep a close eye on new residents coming to settle in Bolton from high risk areas such as South Asia, where TB is prevalent.

The town is bucking the trend of national statistics. In London, and other urban areas with a high proportion of ethnic residents, a rise in the potentially fatal disease has been recorded.

Bolton Public Health Director, Ms Hutchinson said: "The number of confirmed cases so far this year show signs that Bolton is not seeing the large increase in TB cases observed elsewhere in England.

"Bolton has benefited from effective immunisation programmes and early detection and treatment when cases do arise."

Previously Bolton has had a high prevalence of TB cases, similar to Leicester, because of its large ethnic minority population. In 1992, Bolton was the sixth worst district in Britain, now it is among the best. Usually there are around 70 cases each year.

In 1998, this fell to 63, rose to 81 in 1999, but afterwards remained steady at 72.

Vulnerable communities are still being warned to beware of picking up the illness by travelling to countries that do not have an innoculation system.

Once people are contaminated with TB, it will remain in the family unit, very rarely spreading to other communities.

The disease, which can strike any part of the body but is more likely to be fatal in the lungs, builds up slowly with a persistent cough, night sweats and weight loss.

A once incurable disease, causing hundreds of deaths in Bolton each year, special hospitals were set up to tackle TB.

Now, the illness is easily treated with antibiotics.