THE leader of Bolton Council has said "I'm sorry" over a controversial decision which saw the town's Holocaust memorial service cancelled.

And Cliff Morris has vowed the event - which remembers the millions murdered by the Nazis - will be back next year.

An informal all-party committee of party leaders, deputies and whips backed a recommendation by the Bolton Interfaith Council to scrap this year's ceremony at a meeting on December 4. They decided to replace it instead with a more inclusive Genocide Memorial Day in June in the belief that Jews on the interfaith council had been consulted.

But the interfaith council's treasurer, vicar of Bolton Canon Michael Williams, says there are no Jews on the body and no Jews in Bolton were consulted.

Cllr Morris said: "Had we known this, of course we would have asked for consultation.

"It's a misunderstanding. We should have asked all the right questions and I apologise. The event will definitely be back next year."

Millions of people, including Jews, homosexuals, members of the Catholic and Protestant clergy and Poles, died in concentration camps at the hands of the Nazis during the Holocaust.

The most notorious was Auschwitz, where up to 1.5 million were killed between 1940 and 1945. Cllr Andy Morgan, Conservative group whip, who was at the meeting, said: "If the Jewish community was not consulted, we are angry because we were told at the meeting it was represented on the interfaith council. We have been misled."

Cllr Barbara Ronson, leader of the Liberal Democrat group, who was also at the meeting, said: "Either one of the councillors or an officer told us there was Jewish representation on the interfaith council. I would have wished to hear what the Jewish community felt about it."

Canon Williams has defended the role of the Interfaith Council, claiming it was Bolton Council which made the final decision.

"All we did was make a recommendation to Bolton Council, and I don't regret that advice," he said.

"I think we should remember all instances of genocide. It was up to the local authority to decide whether to take that advice."

Canon Williams added that Jewish people in Bolton would be welcome on the interfaith council, which has Christian, Muslim and Hindu members, but said none had come forward. The 2001 census recorded 146 Jews in the town.

The decision to scrap this year's Holocaust service attracted widespread criticism from councillors and religious leaders.

Cllr Frank White, whose job is to oversee community cohesion in Bolton, was furious as the decision was made behind his back.

He said yesterday: "I'm pleased Cllr Morris has recognised the gravity of the situation and the feelings it has engendered. This has been a terrible mistake. "

One Bolton resident who came to England as a refugee from Holland in the war, having lost his entire family to the Nazis, told of his disgust.

The man, who did not wish to be named, arrived in Bolton in 1942.

He said: "It's a disgraceful situation when the largest town in the country does not mark this day and I am personally offended.

"It's too late to do anything for this year although I'm obviously pleased the service will be returning."