A HUGE crane which has dominated the Bolton skyline for the past eight months is being dismantled.

The enormous 123m tall luffing crane has been in place at The Market Place Shopping Centre since last May to help create a new cinema complex at the site.

The crane – the biggest of its type in the UK – was shipped over especially from Poland and contractors are now taking it apart. This process is expected to take until Sunday to complete and will mean that Bridge Street, next to the centre, will be closed to motorists for the rest of the week.

The removal of the crane signals a major step in the process of building the new nine-screen cinema, which will be operated by The Light Cinema Experience.

The cinema will form part of an overall £14 million scheme to redevelop the Market Place, which will include opening new bars and restaurants in the restored Victoria vaults in the ground floor of the centre.

A number of big-name restaurants including chicken giant Nandos and Italian chain Prezzo are set to open their doors in the vaults on March 18 and the cinema will officially open in May.

Market Place manager Nikki Wilson-Cooke said: "The crane being removed will hopefully show people that work is progressing and that the cinema side of things is really starting to take shape.

"We know this because we can regularly see inside where the cinema is being built and the contractors have now put up some of the walls and we can see where some of the main seating areas will be.

"Hopefully people will realise when they see the crane being dismantled that things are happening."

She said there is also clear evidence within the Market Place that the vaults project is nearing completion.

She said: "The fact that Nandos and Prezzo are putting in their shop fits as we speak is very exciting indeed."