SCAFFOLDING at Bolton Town Hall is finally down after being held up by the town's food and drink festival.

Work was being carried out to restore the front of the building after a piece of masonry fell from the portico.

The work was completed in time for the start of the festival, but the removal of scaffolding would have clashed with the festival, so a decision was made to wait until afterwards to take it down.

Workers were busy removing the scaffolding, showing once again the beauty of the historic Victorian building at the heart of Bolton.

Mayor of Bolton, Cllr Linda Thomas said: “I am relieved that the scaffolding is at last being removed.

"The town hall, one of only three of a kind nationally, deserves to be shown off in all its splendour. It is central to much of Bolton’s civic pride and close to our war memorial.

“The safety work was necessary, and it is important to preserve our heritage but I'm glad we can enjoy the magnificent facade again.”

The building was designed by architect William Hill, who was the winner of the competition to design a new town hall for Bolton.

The foundation stone was laid in 1867 and the building was opened with great ceremony in 1873.

Council leader Cllr Martyn Cox said: “We have been carrying out essential repairs to the portico which has now been completed so people can enjoy the town hall once again.

“We have inherited a fabulous building and needed a special company to restore it."

The work has been ongoing for over a year.

Cllr Cox said: “We were determined to do a good job, so we put the scaffolding up and sorted out anything else we found that needed repairs too.

“We found the portico was becoming detached, we found that some of the stone was degrading. It is an old but special building, so we wanted to do the right thing.”

London sculptor, William Calder Marshall also contributed his services, making the life-size figures representing trade in the town.

The group was carved in Portland stone, not marble, possibly reflecting the concerns of economy minded councillors at the time over what they regarded as unnecessary decoration

The central figure represents Bolton, with a mural crown, holding a shield on which is the borough coat of arms.

The figures to the right and left represent ‘manufacture’ and commerce’.

Other elements of the sculpture include ‘wheat’, ‘earth’, ‘child with a basket of cotton’, ‘boy holding a boat by the bow’, ‘ocean’ and ‘fish’.