THE Bishop of Bolton has given his support to an anti-euthanasia campaign spearheaded by the town's MPs.

The Rt Rev David Gillett praised them for taking the initiative and raising public awareness on the issue.

He said: "I believe people of all religious persuasions need to get involved.

"It effects us all and the decisions we make now on euthanasia will effect our children and future generations."

Dr Brian Iddon, David Crausby and Ruth Kelly are among 27 MPs who have formed all party group to launch a national fight against euthanasia.

The groups' aim is to issue a warning over "the manner in which this country is being drawn closer and closer to euthanasia" which they classify as the intentional ending of a patient's life by act or omission.

In a joint statement, the MPs said: "Quite apart from a constant political campaign to allow doctors to end the lives of patients who are not dying, we have people who are trying to change the law through court cases and we have written to interested people throughout our constituencies to alert them to policies being pursued by the British Medical Association."

They have written to churches, mosques, synagogues and other groups in Bolton to ask for support.

The Rt Rev Gillett said he believe the need to "preserve the dignity of the individual" was of the utmost importance and decisions over death should not be left to doctors alone.

He said: "It is very important that we should have a debate out in the open so that euthanasia doesn't creep up upon us unawares.

"There is a sense that nobody else must decide for us when we die, it is always the individual's choice and this is the vital elements that must be preserved.

"We need to preserve death as a natural end to life but we should neither be looking to prolong life when all vital signs have gone nor should we be trying to end life prematurely.

"We need to talk about this issue and not just to leave it to the doctors because I don't would want to be the only ones to decide on this issue."