BOLTON people have every right to be proud of the town's newest sporting facility the Bolton Arena.

This £15 million centre at Middlebrook was officially launched at the weekend and immediately attracted thousands of visitors, many of them local people curious about this fascinating structure.

The Arena will be home to the badminton competition of the Commonwealth Games next summer, but its purpose is basically to foster tennis talent. And to help in the bid for British champions.

To aid this, there are indoor tennis courts and six outdoor courts plus practice courts. There is also a busy gym, full size football pitch and a five-a-side pitch, basketball and netball courts.

Since its opening at Easter, scores of local primary schoolchildren have visited the Arena -- which is exactly the kind of interest originators and organisers want.

Sport England gave the project an £11 million grant and the British Tennis Foundations and Lawn Tennis Association added more funding. They are desperate to get youngsters involved in tennis from an early age, with a view to conspicuous excellence as soon as possible.

The weekend events were boosted by Wimbledon hero Barry Cowan, who hailed the Arena as "the best site of its kind in the country". Olympic javelin thrower Tessa Sanderson, now vice-chair of Sport England, agreed with this description and added that the facility would benefit the town as well as the country.

Bolton already has a reputation for sporting excellence across the board, both amateur and professional, and the Arena is now the jewel in this particular crown.

It has been earmarked as the venue for the National Tennis Championships in October and the Challenger Tournaments. And next year, it will put the town in the international spotlight as badminton stars from all over the world gather for the Games' competition.

We hope that the Arena will long prove to be a major draw for Bolton, and a major facility for local people of all ages and their sporting aspirations.

And we congratulate Bolton Metro and all the national bodies involved on this remarkable project -- it is already a winner.