THE council's Registrars service will move from historic Mere Hall into the refurbished Bolton Town Hall early next year.

The service is moving from the early Victorian listed building just outside the town centre so that weddings can be hosted in their entirety in the town hall building.

Council chiefs have given assurances that the famous mansion will not be knocked down once the move takes place.

The Albert Halls section of the the Grade II listed town hall is undergoing a £6.5 million refurbishment, which authority chiefs hope will make it one of the premier wedding destinations in the region when it reopens in the spring.

Currently, the authority's registrars are based at Mere Hall, which is a Grade II listed mansion, surrounded by landscape gardens, built in 1836 by Benjamin Dobson.

The mansion was bequeathed to the town of Bolton in 1890 by its then owner JP Thomasson and was turned into a popular museum and library.

More than 100 years later, in 1996, the hall was given a £1 million refurbishment after years of neglect, and Bolton Registrar Office moved there from Paderborn House in the centre of town.

Since then, thousands of Bolton residents have married at the hall but that tradition will come to an end early in the New Year when the Registrars leave for the town hall.

However, a council spokesman said the mansion will not be demolished and said authority chiefs are involved in discussions about a potential new use for it.

The move to the town hall means that couples will be able to have a civil ceremony, followed by a reception in upgraded facilities — all under one roof in the impressive setting of the Albert Halls.

There is already a registrar based in the One Stop Shop in the town hall, where residents can book appointments to register births and deaths, and this service will be bolstered by the arrival of the registrars from Mere Hall, who will be able to offer the complete range of registration services from one central location.

In addition to this registrars will continue to perform civil ceremonies throughout Bolton at various hotels and historic venues.

The wedding venue theme of the town hall upgrade was decided upon after an initial proposal — which included creating a new café and restaurant in the front façade of the building, was met with overwhelming criticism.

GALLERY: Your weddings at Mere Hall in Bolton

The current plan, which chiefs say is on time and on budget, is centred around the wedding service theme and will include also include a modern new café-restaurant and specialist new disabled access near to the Albert Halls entrance.

All wedding bookings already made for Mere Hall will be honoured, but no new bookings will be taken.

A council spokesperson said: “We are pleased that the registrar’s service will be moving from Mere Hall to join the other registrars already based in the town hall.

“This will allow us to offer a complete wedding package to residents, from the civil ceremony, through to the wedding breakfast and evening reception.”

The council said no jobs will be affected by the changes.