WE all know that the big, bad wolf menaced Little Miss Riding Hood after dressing up as a grandmother.

So what are we to make of a study from the Royal Society which has suggested the re-introduction of up to 500 wolves in areas of the Scottish Highlands which have been lupine-free zones for 240 years or so?

Clever ecologists think these far from cuddly predators would tackle a soaring increase in the wild deer population, thereby giving a boost to plant and birdlife bio-diversity in areas which would then prove easier to re-forest.

They apparently concede that this sort of plan would be deeply unpopular with farmers and the owners of those rural pets which would be transformed overnight into potential snacks. True enough, I should think.

Critics point out that there is nothing to suggest that wolves would stay in designated areas and not prefer lamb to venison.

You somehow doubt that all members of a future Scottish wolf population would care sufficiently about devolution to stay North of the border for long.

Those with a sense of history would presumably pay a visit to the limestone cliffs of Humphrey Head in Cumbria - three miles south of Grange-over-Sands and reputedly the spot where England's last wolf was killed in the 15th century.

After that it would only be a matter of time before they were roaming the moors around Rivington and Belmont with a view to preying on Smithills terriers and stealing mature-fashion items from clothes lines to aid a scam involving the consumption of small girls with baskets.

You have to say that the wolf solution seems to be something of a non-starter, but maybe it will spark a debate on the deer crisis, if that is what it is.

Perhaps all it takes is a supremely insensitive fast food chain with the necessary money to invest in a Scottish meat factory for the exclusive production of "Bambi-burgers".

Changing the subject, you might recall that I recently joked about putting a fiver on Blackpool to convince the Casino Advisory Panel that the run-down resort should be allowed to build the country's only "super casino".

If I had done so I would now be regretting not having a 15-l punt on Bolton's big neighbour, Manchester.

Significantly, the reasons given by the panel include the acknowledgement that Manchester is one of the eight "core cities" identified by a government increasingly keen to promote the idea of "city regions".

Whatever we might think about the socially corrosive effects of increased gambling temptation, we should recognise that the economic benefits from this massive enterprise could well spread to all areas of Greater Manchester, including Bolton.

Apart from the job opportunities during construction and those when it is built, I can see that coach, taxi and private hire operators around here stand to do very well out of pub and club trips to Manchester's new "tourist destination."

This unexpected decision has the potential to be a good bet for Bolton and other "Manchester" towns.