THE search for a new Bolton coroner has been launched -- with a package of up to £61,000 to entice applicants.

Aidan Cotter, who currently holds the post, is leaving for the prestigious position of Birmingham coroner.

Mr Cotter had only been in the job nine months but said the lure of the West Midlands -- where he had spent much of his adult life including 17 years as Walsall coroner -- was irresistable.

He pledged to do everything he could to ensure there was a smooth transition, ideally with a successor being installed before he left.

The post is being advertised with a salary of between £52,689 and £58,866 a year plus a 5.5 per cent supplement, almost £3,000 if the new coroner joins an enhanced pension scheme.

Other perks of the Manchester West job, which also means conducting inquests in Leigh and Salford, include allowances for work-related car and telephone use.

The Coroner Service will hope the package is enough to prevent a repeat of the situation when previous coroner Martin Coppel retired on health grounds last August.

Then it took four months to find a replacement and several families contacted the BEN claiming inquests involving their loved ones had been unreasonably delayed.

The closing date for applications is August 24. When the post was last advertised, at £57,000 a year, there were 26 applicants.

Coroners must have had at least five years experience as a barrister, solicitor or doctor. Mr Cotter, for example, had served as a solicitor for 34 years.

He will probably be Britain's busiest coroner in his new role. Birmingham has only one coroner compared to London's six and Manchester's four.