THE spectre of two council-owned Le Mans Crescent buildings becoming empty has been averted in a funding bid.

Bolton council is putting the finishing touches to a business plan for a new court to replace the down-at-heel Magistrates Court in the showpiece street.

Police have already announced plans to vacate Bolton police station for a new purpose-built headquarters.

But the options the authority puts before the Government next Friday will prevent the nightmare scenario of two prominent buildings in Bolton's grandest thoroughfare being boarded-up.

The two options are:

Extending the court into Bolton central police station when it becomes vacant. Leader Bob Howarth has said that is the authority's preferred option.

Building a completely new magistrates' headquarters in Cheadle Square. But this will NOT go ahead unless private sector partners can find new uses for the empty court and police station.

Any work will be funded under the Government's private finance initiative, with firms meeting the cost of a new building and leasing it back to the council.

Council officers involved in the court project are upbeat about a bid which has taken 18 months of painstaking preparation.

A council spokesman said: "A bid will be submitted to the treasury next week and we are optimistic that we will get the go ahead to progress the scheme early next autumn."

Consultants Price Waterhouse predict extending the court would cost £22.2 million over 25 years and a new building £25.3 million over the same period, with Chancellor Gordon Brown stumping up the majority of cash.

The Treasury is expected to decide before Christmas which option it prefers for Bolton's magistrates court.

It is understood that the court has become outdated because of legal developments, such as the requirement that family and criminal courts are separated, and an increase in the number of people passing through its doors.