A DATE has been set for the controversial Genocide Memorial Day in Bolton.

In January, Bolton Council scrapped the town's annual Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony in favour of an inclusive day for all faiths later in the year.

It has now been announced that the new Genocide Memorial Day remembrance ceremony will take place in Victoria Square, Bolton, on Sunday, July 15, at 2.30pm.

Holocaust Memorial Day is observed internationally on January 27 to mark the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp, where 1.5 million people were murdered during World War Two.

The decision to scrap the town's memorial event - made after consultation with Bolton Interfaith Council - triggered criticism from religious leaders and councillors. Some of them said they had been unaware of the move.

For the last seven years, Bolton has marked the day with a town hall ceremony overseen by Rabbi Joseph Lever of the United Synagogue.

But this year, the flying of the town hall flags at half-mast was the only sign of remembrance for the millions of Jews murdered in Nazi death camps during the war, Bolton Council leader Cliff Morris apologised for the upset and vowed a ceremony to mark the day would be reinstated in Bolton next year.

However, before then, in July, religious leaders of all faiths will gather on the town hall steps to remember mass killings all over the world.

Tony McNeile, secretary of Bolton Interfaith Council, said: "We hope that it will all go well and we now have a steering group with representatives of all faiths, including the Jewish, so hopefully no lines of communication are missed out.

"It is very important to have a Genocide Memorial Day event in recognition of the awful genocides going on in the world today.

"All faiths believe that genocide has to be eradicated and people should learn to communicate with each other."

Labour councillor Nick Peel, one of those outraged by the decision to scrap the Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony, said: "I think it's a good idea to have a genocide memorial day. But millions of people were killed in the Holocaust and I think it should be remembered in its own right."