WORKERS in Bolton are lagging behind millions of employees in other parts of the country as their wages grow by less than the national average.

Figures released today show earnings in the town crawled up the pay scale by just 3.5 per cent, placing the town in 105th place in a national pay movement league.

Neighbouring Bury tops the table with its workers earning on average 15.3 per cent more this year than last.

But the poll shows Bolton's average earnings rose four times slower as workers took home £362.01a week in 2001 and £374.60 in 2002.

The average gross earnings figure for the whole of Britain was £444.22 in April 2001 and £464.75 in April 2002.

Officials for the GMB union said the figures -- compiled from the New Earnings Survey published by the Office of National Statistics -- demonstrated the "imbalances in the UK economy".

Paul Kenny, a GMB senior official and member of the TUC General Council, said: "The decline in manufacturing and the shake-out in the financial sector following the speculative boom on the Stock Exchange have already taken their toll." Bury's average weekly earnings shot up from £369.78 in 2001 to £426.50 last year.