MANCHESTER, Bolton and Bury Canal, closed nearly 70 years ago, is set to be restored.

And the ambitious scheme is expected to give a huge boost to the economic regeneration of the area.

North West Euro MP Chris Davies has revealed the news that the 15 miles long Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal could be re-opened within five years.

The announcement came after a meeting to discuss EU funding for the project with the man behind the North West's canal renaissance.

Already, five engineers, an ecologist and an accountant have been allocated to study the multi-million pound project by British Waterways regional director Derek Cochrane.

He has told the MEP of his personal conviction that the scheme will proceed.

Mr Cochrane has been the key figure in the rejuvenation of the waterways network in the North West which, this year alone, will see the completion of the Rochdale Canal's restoration, the re-opening of the famous Anderton boat lift near Northwich, and the completion of Britain's first new section of narrow canal for a century, the "Ribble Link" near Preston. But he told Chris Davies that the plan to restore the abandoned link between Bury, Bolton and the River Irwell, close to Granada Studios in Manchester, offered greater potential for economic regeneration and job creation than any similar restoration project.

European Union support for the scheme will be crucial to its success, and with funding schemes due to end in 2005, British Waterways is anxious to make an early start.

The Liberal Democrat MEP, a canal enthusiast, said that the scheme faced formidable engineering difficulties.

Although three quarters of the line of the canal was still owned by British Waterways or by local councils, long sections of it have been filled in. Only one third of it is still in water.

Restoration of the canal will require the rebuilding of more than a dozen road bridges and 17 locks, extensive works to counter land slip where the canal follows the hillside, and construction of a tunnel beneath the M60 in "death valley" between junctions 16 and 17.

Mr Davies commented: "This will be like bringing the dead back to life, but Derek Cochrane says it will happen.

"Given his record, that's enough to convince me that we can look forward to seeing

boats making their way from central Manchester to Bury and Bolton in just

a few years' time."

Mr Davies described the local authorities involved as positive and helpful and he praised members of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Society for their efforts to keep alive the idea of restoration.

"This wouldn't be happening without their enthusiasm and determination," he said. Greater Manchester's waterway rebirth started in the 1970s when the re-building of nine locks through the city centre enabled the reopening of the "Cheshire Ring" of canals.

Construction of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal was authorised in 1791 and served the towns for 140 years. The waterway is "Y'"shaped, with the base joining the River Irwell and the forks branching to the two towns.

It was closed in 1936 after the canal was breached in two places and never repaired.