Lancs not Mancs?

Confusion still reigns over which county Bolton is in

33 years later there is confusion over which county the town belongs to but MPs David Crausby and Dr Brian Iddon are backing a campaign to reinstate the traditional county boundaries.

It has been claimed Bolton benefits by being associated with Greater Manchester, Britain's most populated area outside London. But Dr Brian Iddon, MP for Bolton south east, is the patron of the Friends of Real Lancashire who constantly fights to protect the old county boundaries and David Crausby, MP for Bolton north east, said: ‘I am a Lancastrian, not a Greater Mancunian, and we should protect the traditions of the town.’

The proposals caused consternation in the town where opinion is divided, with some residents clamouring for a return to Lancashire, some arguing for retention of Greater Manchester and others pointing out that Greater Manchester was only ever a local authority and not a council.

And unlike most of the younger counties, Greater Manchester was never adopted as an official postal county by Royal Mail. Chris Dawson, chairman of the Friends of Real Lancashire, said: ‘People are concerned about the loss of identity of our traditional historic counties and they want the place where they live to be recognised. Bolton is traditionally in Lancashire and people should be made aware of this.’ Simon Cronin, from the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: ‘There is a lot of affection for the old county boundaries but Greater Manchester is now an established area known throughout the country. It would have a big impact on the existing organisations and we would not support this. It goes back to 1974 and it is a bit late to start changing things back now.’ Lancashire, of course, dates back more than 800 years to 1168.