BUSINESS in Bolton is booming and the town has one of the best shopping centres in the country, business leaders said today.

Both old and new companies are backing our Pride of Bolton campaign -- which already has the support of the Prime Minister, church leaders, councillors and the police.

Some businesses, like Warburton's Family Bakery, have been based in Bolton for generations. Others, like Hitachi, only arrived recently.

But both long-standing and newly-established companies are trying to improve their links with the community and to use their resources to help the town prosper.

Jonathan Warburton, the bakery's chairman, said: "We are a company of traditional values and our heritage is very important to us. It would be unthinkable to be based anywhere other than Bolton.

"This is where it all began for us 126 years ago. We take our bread to towns across the country, but we have a great deal of pride in who we are and where we are from."

The company already has close links with the community and tries to give the town something back. Staff support a number of organisations including Bolton Lads and Girls Club and Bolton Hospice. They are also supporting the Bolton Coronary Care Unit appeal.

Other local investors, such as the Irwell Valley Housing Association, are putting millions of pounds into the town centre to try to make it a better place to live, work and shop.

Phil Summers, deputy chief executive, said: "Our staff have travelled all over Europe to look at building designs. Now we hope to use some of our ideas in Bolton. We want to build good houses that are pleasing in terms of architecture.

"Developments like our apartments in Clive Street and our plans for Bradshawgate will transform the gateway to Bolton town centre."

The call to do even more for the community was backed by other businessmen.

Andrew Dickson, director of St Andrew's Travel, said: "I am very proud to be from this town and to have my business here. But I get very frustrated by people who do not care about it and cause problems with litter, graffiti and fly-posting.

"Bolton is a fantastic place and we have a fantastic town centre. We should all feel proud of being Boltonians and get behind the Bolton Evening News's campaign."

Rod Neasham, boss of the Market Place, said: "The strength of Bolton is in its people and their friendliness." He has seen the numbers of people visiting the Market Place grow in the first few months of this year -- proof that people do enjoy coming to the town from as far away as Fleetwood and Preston, despite the controversy over parking.

"It is not the parking charges that people have the problem with," he added. A survey showed shoppers thought the charges on the Market Place car park were reasonable. He admits there are problems with empty shops in the town centre, but said the council and the Town Centre Company, of which he is a director, are working hard to fill them.

"Bolton is one of the best places to live, people who visit me are always surprised at how near the countryside we are as they think of Bolton as cloth caps and mills. People in Bolton have a lot to be proud of."