A FORMER Bury swimming champion and England internationalist is going to great lengths to glean as much information as possible about Bury and its people.

For Mr Harry Campbell has been appointed as area manager for the Census which will take place nationwide next April.

His territory embraces the boroughs of Bury, Rochdale and Salford which account for around half a million people.

Households throughout Britain will fill in their Census forms next April. The mammoth survey, carried out in the UK every 10 years, will involve people answering a list of 20 wide ranging questions. Harry (57), has been appointed as area manager by the Office for National Statistics and one of his first tasks will be to oversee the appointment of 21 district managers, six of whom will serve the Bury area.

"People who wish to apply for the jobs should look out for the adverts which will be appearing next month," he says.

After that, the next stage will be to recruit hundreds of enumerators, more than 360 of whom will serve the Bury area.

Harry explained: "Next April, they will visit each and every household in Bury to deliver the Census forms.

"Census day itself is April 29 when the forms should be filled in. For the first time ever, people will be able to post them back."

Harry admits that the preparatory work for the Census will be a massive logistical undertaking. One Census form per household will be delivered.

The results will provide a key snapshot of the UK in terms of its overall population, employment and educational trends as well as focusing on groups like the disabled.

Harry stressed that no-one need fear that personal information from individual Census forms would become public knowledge.

"We are going to great lengths to ensure that there is a totally separate database for all the Census information. Confidentiality is extremely important."

However, general statistics will be culled from the survey and could be used to influence future developments in education and health as well as other sectors.

Help will also available in Bury to assist certain people, like the elderly and those from the ethnic minorities, to fill in their forms.

"We will have language and help lines plus interpreters to provide help to anyone who needs it," says Harry.

He was born in Glasgow but moved to Bury at the age of five. He attended St John's primary and East Ward secondary schools in the town and later studied at Bury College.

He subsequently became a police officer and served in the force for around 40 years.

Harry eventually rose to the rank of superintendent and was sub-divisional of Greater Manchester Police's city centre division before his retirement in March.

In the 1950s, he was twice freestyle swimming champion of the Bury and Elton Club and represented England on two occasions.

He is married with two daughters and a son and now lives in Edgworth.