BOLTON women are to take part in a major research project into bone density.

Manchester University's mobile osteoporosis unit -- a 28ft truck fitted with state-of-the-art scanners -- will visit the town.

The study will investigate whether ethnic background influences levels of peak bone mass by looking at women aged 18 to 35 in three ethnic groups.

Volunteers will visit the mobile unit to have bone mass measurements made in addition to completing a lifestyle questionnaire and giving a blood sample.

Professor Judith Adams, head of the Department of Clinical Radiology, said: "This new mobile unit is hugely important as it gives us the same high level of sophistication of measurement as we have at our base at the university."

Around three million people in the UK suffer from osteoporosis.