CELEBRITY chef Paul Heathcote is giving his home town's commercial future the thumbs-up with his new Olive Press restaurant.

"Bolton is definitely on the up", he said, ahead of the September opening of the restaurant in the former Red on the Square premises off Bradshawgate in the town centre.

The 45-year-old masterchef, a TV favourite on the UK Food channel, has been planning to open his 11th restaurant in Bolton - his first in the town - for the past two and a half years. "But I wanted to get just the right site," he explained, "and I think that in the heart of the town's evening leisure scene is the spot."

The £500,000 scheme currently taking shape in Nelson Square is the latest in his empire of individual and Olive Press Pizzeria Bar and Grill restaurants and will transform the building into a blend of rustic and contemporary design, featuring an Italian menu.

The venture signals the first time that the former Bolton College catering student has started a business in the town - a move he felt was inevitable.

"My parents (Ken and Brenda, who owned the first health club in Bolton), my sister and grandfather, all still live here and everyone was always asking me when I was going to open a restaurant here," he said.

"But I have been talking to other businessmen, like Tom Bloxham of Urban Splash and the owners of La Tasca, over a long period and their opinion of Bolton was the same as mine, that it is definitely on the up."

As well as a huge financial vote of confidence in the town, his new restaurant will also mean around 40 jobs, half of them full-time.

Paul's restaurant success story has its roots in the days when he lived in New Bury and nurtured his cookery interest in the kitchen at home.

Now his first Heathcote's Restaurant in Longridge, Preston, and those that followed in Manchester and Liverpool have helped to earn him a national reputation for the finest food.

And his culinary business interests have taken him not only into the Olive Press chain, but also into corporate entertaining at Liverpool and Preston football clubs and at Chester racecourse, as well as into training, which now also involves his 70 year-old father.

Although Paul long ago made his home in the Preston area with wife Gaby, and children Georgia, aged nine and seven year-old Sam, Bolton still has a special place in his life.

Apart from his relatives, there is his beloved Bolton Wanderers - "I started going to matches when I was six with my great-grandmother" - and he is an enthusiastic season ticket holder.

He is also a supporter of local charities, like the Bolton Lads & Girls Club, and is holding a special event for them during his opening week.

"I am looking forward to opening here. It's a kind of coming home." he said.