ONE of the country’s largest cranes has started work to build a cinema complex in Bolton town centre.

The luffing crane — which measures 123 metres in height — will dominate the Bolton skyline for the next six months as it works to create the new nine-screen cinema on the site of the Market Place Shopping Centre.

The specialist crane has been shipped in from Poland and the huge structure has required the use of other smaller cranes to build it.

Construction of the crane started last month but was temporarily delayed after logistical issues.

The two main jobs that the machine will be carrying out will be to remove the central dome of the Market Place building and to put in place the steel structure that will eventually house the cinema.

The cinema forms part of the wider £19 million redevelopment project taking place at the Market Place, which will include the arrival of bars and restaurants in the refurbished ground floor Victorian vaults as well as new firms setting up shop inside the centre.

The delay in the building of the crane is not believed to have affected the progress of the project and everything still points to the cinema opening its doors on December 18 — just in time for the screening of the new Star Wars film.

The task of operating the imposing crane machine has fallen to McLaren Construction, which has successfully fitted a 500-tone jib to carry out the hoisting work.

For Market Place manager Nikki Wilson-Cooke, this represents another milestone en route to the completion of the ambitious regeneration plan.

She said: “I am just so excited that the work on the cinema has now started properly — December 18 cannot come around soon enough.

“The delay hasn’t slowed down progress because the team have been able to use some smaller cranes to keep the work going — so we are still heading for that date.

“Seeing the luffing crane at its full size and fully operational is very impressive.”

She added: “I just can’t wait to see people coming through the doors to see films at the centre.”