A HUGE trench could be dug through fields and woods in Bolton to make way for a 54 kilometre water pipe.

The channel, which would be 43 metres wide, would house a pipeline linking two reservoirs to the west and east of the borough.

United Utilities say the two-year £125 million scheme, if approved, will provide secure water supplies for the region.

Planning officers for Bolton Council have recommended that councillors on the town hall’s planning committee, which meets on Thursday, give plans the go-ahead, providing strict conditions are met.

%vote(619 Ian McAulay, United Utilities Managing Director of Capital Programmes, said: “Pipelines like this are the motorways of the water supply network, and this will be one of the biggest engineering projects we have ever undertaken.

“It is all part of our long-term plan to make sure we keep reliable water supplies on tap for our seven million customers in the North-west. The engineering challenges are big but the project is vital to give us more flexibility in the future during times of drought or when we need to carry out maintenance on other major aqueducts in the region."

But the proposals have prompted some objections.

Ryders Farm Equestrian Centre in Manchester Road say the digging up of open fields will reduce grazing space for horses and sheep.

And some residents in Folds Road say construction traffic will clog up their street and have complained they have not been consulted.

Spindle Point Primary School in Moss Lane has also voiced concerns about construction traffic but has not officially objected.

The pipeline would connect Prescot Reservoir in Knowsley with Woodgate Hill Reservoir in Bury and carry 100 million litres of water a day — enough to fill one million baths.

Around 3.5 kilometres will run through Bolton, entering the borough in Kearsley and crossing Ringley Road West and fields south of Milestone House, then heading west towards Ringley Woods before turning south towards Folds Road.

The pipeline would then go around the United Utilities sewage treatment works in Ringley Fold, under the River Irwell and the Bolton-to-Manchester railway line, around Unity Brook then across Manchester Road and Clifton Moss into Salford.

Special tunnelling machines working at depths of up to 20 metres will be brought in to carry out some of the work.

If permission is granted, work could start early next year. United Utilities also needs permission from seven other councils along the 54 kilometre route.

The pipeline would allow water to be transferred between Greater Manchester and Merseyside, ending both region’s reliance on water from the Lake District and North Wales.