BOLTON is booming and earning a reputation as the North-west's most vibrant shopping centre after attracting millions of visitors so far this year.

A massive 8.25m shoppers have visited the town centre during 2001-- making it the busiest in the North-west.

And with Christmas looming, town centre traders are bracing themselves for one of the best ever. A further 908,000 shoppers are expected to hit town in the next four weeks.

The town centre success story comes at the end of a year which has seen a flood of investment in the form of new shops, pubs and hotels.

In recent months the town has enjoyed major developments such as the Burnden Park Big W store and a multi-million pound re-vamp of the town's Marks and Spencer.

The town's night-time economy is also on the up with a string of new pub developments including Deansgate's The Goose pub.

And more investment is heading Bolton's way, with plans for a £14m re-development of the old Marsden Road fire station into an office, retail and leisure complex.

To compliment this, traditional winners such as Bolton's outdoor market continue to pull in shoppers from across the region.

And success has come despite increasing competition from shopping attractions such as the Trafford Centre, new designer outlet facilities at Salford's Lowry Centre and surrounding towns such as Bury, Wigan, Blackburn and Oldham.

Traders believe Bolton's size, friendliness and safety have made it a surefire winner.

Crompton Place shopping centre has seen a 20 per cent increase in visitors compared to November last year and centre manager David Cameron is confident the trend will continue over Christmas.

There have been 260,000 customers and the centre can now expect 25,000 shoppers on an average Sunday.

He said: "The town's attraction in the main is better, with investment going into Marks and Spencers and plenty of new shops. Crompton Place has a lot of new shops, which are all doing well."

Rod Neasham, centre manager of the Market Place, is also hoping for a bumper Christmas.

He said: "I think Bolton is popular because it is bigger than surrounding towns and the people are very friendly. Customers feel safer shopping here than in the city. It is a good local town and it is very loyal." Mr Neasham highlighted an influx of new traders to the Market Place who had helped to keep trade booming, including JD Sports, Quest, Arc, Rhode Island Coffee and more recently Loft.

Town centre retailer Alan Tattersall, who owns DB3 and Morgan fashion outlets, said: "There is a real buzz in the centre at the moment with a very strong start to the Christmas trading period.

"Our continued investment in the Market Place reflects our belief that the centre is going from strength to strength despite tough opposition."

Sue Shaw, who manages the new town centre store Loft, added: "There's a great atmosphere in the centre, some excellent customer services and really lovely Christmas decorations."

The shopping centre is fully let over the Christmas period with strong demand for units.

Bolton's Town Centre Company, responsible for selling the town to shoppers, believes attractions such as the Victoria Square Christmas Snow Tube are helping to encourage people to flock to the town.

A spokesman said: "We have been quite astounded by how popular it has been. It demonstrates people are coming in for activities which are interesting and attractive to visitors.

"We want to make sure we keep attracting new people and all the time retaining the existing customers and local people."

The Mayor of Bolton, Kevan Helsby MBE, said: "People love coming to Bolton to do their shopping."