HOUSING chiefs are worried that they could have to take extra luggage on a fact-finding trip - bullet-proof vests.

They are going to visit the Toxteth and Granby areas of Liverpool where there has been a series of shootings in recent weeks.

And they are making an early start on their day out because they have been warned "things can get a bit frenzied" in the afternoons.

They will be going to Liverpool on July 29 to look at how housing problems are being tackled in the area. Peter Young, assistant director of housing, said: "There have been some very serious problems in this area which have needed radical attention.

"While we do not have anything on this scale here, we felt it would be an interesting visit."

Councillors are also going to look at problems on estates in Farnworth and Little Hulton.

But they admitted that they will be asking housing officers from Salford to "take them over the border" into Little Hulton. Councillors were told that they may get a better reception with someone who knows the area rather than wandering around on their own.

Bolton and Salford are set to put in a joint bid for Government funding to re-vitalise areas of Farnworth and Little Hulton.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.