Hundreds of shoppers greeted the completion of Miller Construction's latest project as Bolton Market Hall was opened to the public.

Staff at Miller have spent almost three years restoring the Victorian Market Hall in Bolton Town Centre as part of a £40 million project for its client, shopping centre specialist Warner Estate Holdings.

When Mayor of Bolton, Cllr Anthony Connell, cut the ribbon to open the development, hundreds of eager shoppers poured in to see new stores including the likes of H&M and Zara.

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Within days of being open, the centre even played host to Royalty as HRH Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, was given a VIP tour of the new facilities.

Together with the existing shopping centre, the 96,416 sq ft restoration project means Bolton now has 430,000 sq ft of retail space in one mall - equivalent in size to more than 200 tennis courts.

The newly opened mall will see High Street stores such as Oasis, Jane Norman and Principles alongside local independent retailers including Westwells Florist, Stokes Opticians, Cappuccinos Restaurant, C&J Carter Jewellers and The Bag Shop.

Joint MD of Miller Construction, Tom de la Motte said: "This has been a challenging but very rewarding project for us. It has been a fantastic opportunity for us to bring such an historic building as this back to life.

"While working within a live shopping centre is never easy, seeing the reaction among the public when it was opened was very exciting."

(CD/JM)