A DISUSED Bolton quarry which could be converted into an outdoor leisure area is being sold with a price tag of £80,000.

Cox Green Quarry, in Cox Green Road, Egerton, will be auctioned along with 19 acres of surrounding land, with footpaths, woodland and a pond.

The auctioneers, Pugh and Co, say it could be suitable for leisure use, subject to planning consent, such as canoeing, quad biking, paintballing and rock climbing.

The auction will take place at Manchester United’s Old Trafford ground on Thursday, October 18, starting at noon. The vacant for mer quarry is currently owned by an undisclosed Bolton-based investment company.

Pugh and Co director James Ashworth said: “Quarries don’t often come up at auction and we’ve not offered any in the area since the two sites we sold in 2008 for United Utilities at Belmont.

“Our clients have recently constructed an access into the site and Cox Green Quarry could be suitable for a variety of outdoor leisure uses such as quad biking, rock climbing or paint balling subject to any necessary consentsbeing obtained. We have had a great deal of interest in the lot already so are hopeful it will sell on the day.”

The site was used as a sandstone quarry from 1840, with the stone used to build houses for mill workers in about 1900.

Bolton Civic Trust chairman Brian Tetlow said he hoped the land would be used for quieter activities to avoid disturbing residents.

He said: “Activities closer to nature would be preferable, such as rock climbing or canoeing on the lake, if it is a decent size, ather than quad-biking.

There are quite a lot of houses on one side of Cox Green Road and along roads running off it. There is quite a population there so I don’t think people would want noisy activities.”

He added: “The quarry site is in green belt land so the potential for development is limited.

Anyone who took it over would presumably have to make the quarry faces safe for the public.”

The body of a missing man, Edward Sutton, from Darwen, was discovered by a group of teenagers at the bottom of Cox Green Quarry in August. He was reported missing from his home in Cloister Drive, in late July after spending the afternoon out walking.