WALKERS who trek through mudbaths are cheering the start of a £157,000 scheme to restore footpaths in the Higher Folds area.

Paths in the Leigh, Tyldesley and Gin Pit area will be made more accessible for legitimate users now the Forestry Commission has started work transforming the former pit waste site into a new community woodland.

The 131 hectare (about 330 acres) site has most recently been used for grazing and is a portion of the Gin Pit-Higher Folds reclamation site which a generation ago was acclaimed as the biggest such scheme in Europe. Landscaping and planting schemes began after the massive spoil heaps were reshaped by giant earthmoving machines and then covered with a layer of soil. Many on site footpaths were never officially reinstated.

Lisa Foden, Forestry Commission community liaison officer, said: "The paths are used regularly by people walking between Gin Pit village, the Higher Folds estate, Leigh and Tyldesley -- and they are in a dreadful state.

"They are uneven, boggy and unsuitable for people with pushchairs and wheelchairs."

Now, in addition to path resurfacing, access restrictions will be imposed to stop motorcycles and cars using the site and eradicating flytipping and dumping problems.

"We will be landscaping, cleaning ditches, tidying woodland and grassland and gradually improving the ecology of the area."

Some rights of way will be temporarily closed while work continues but diversion routes will be clearly marked.

A delighted Cllr John Lea, Bedford-Astley representative on Wigan MBC, said: "It's probably the most significant reinstatement of colliery wasteland in Greater Manchester and something future generations will benefit from for years to come."

Funding for the redevelopment is coming from a £9 million grant from the Government's Capital Modernisation Fund with £2.8 million support backing from the North West Development Agency.