FLORAL art groups across Bolton are working on the mammoth task of putting on a huge flower display in time for the town's Charter anniversary in January.

Bolton, Horwich and Harwood floral art groups are planning nine spectacular arrangements based around themes on significant people, organisations and events in the town's history.

The display, at the Reebok Stadium, is just one of a series of celebrations planned to mark the 750th anniversary in January of the granting by William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby of the Charter to Bolton, which made the town a free borough and gave permission for a market and fair to be held.

Another highlight of the festivities will be a special two-day medieval market on January 18 and 19. There are plans to transform Churchgate with the construction of an archway similar to one which was erected in 1897 to mark Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Stalls will line Churchgate and continue inside Bolton Parish Church.

Hundreds of flowers, ranging from the exotic to the familiar, worth up to £2,000, will be used in the Reebok arrangements to depict historical figures such as inventor Samuel Crompton and Lord Derby. There will also be arrangements to celebrate Bolton Wanderers and the signing of the Charter in 1253.

Anne Needham, secretary of the Horwich floral art club, said: "We are still very much in the planning stage. We don't yet know what height the arrangements will be. We will have two or three ladies working on each theme. I will be working on Samuel Crompton. In one moment of madness I did intend to use his spinning mule in the arrangement, but I was told that it couldn't be moved.

"So I think the arrangement will be based around a cotton theme -- meaning there will be plenty of white flowers!"

The display is a challenge because the ladies were only given five months to prepare, compared with some events where they are given a few years to plan. And because it will be in the middle of winter, the flowers will be more difficult to come by.

But Anne, who has been involved with floral art since 1974, is confident they have the experience to make some breathtaking arrangements.

The designs will be on show around the Lion of Vienna Suite in the Reebok Stadium. Guests at the mayor's Grand Charter Charity Ball, in aid of the Bolton Coronary Care Appeal, on January 17, will be able to see the elaborate arrangements.

Members of the public will be able to look around the displays on Saturday, January 18, from 10am to 5pm, for an entrance fee of £1.50, payable on the door.

There are also plans under way to organise transport in vintage vehicles from the town centre to the Reebok Stadium.