A new memorial remembering those who died in the Pretoria Pit mining disaster has been given the go-ahead.

Bolton Council Executive Member for Cleaner, Green, Safer has finally given the go ahead for the Pretoria Pit disaster memorial in Ditchfield Gardens at the end of Market Street next to Wilbraham Street.

The memorial, pictured, will be erected by and paid for by Westhoughton Town Council at a cost of nearly £30,000 to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the disaster which killed 344 men and boys on the 21^st December 1910.

Bolton Council has agreed to carry out some maintenance work to Ditchfield Gardens.

The Town Council did a public consultation and received 22 comments 11 for and 11 against.

The artist who will produce the statue is the same person who made the Fred Dibnah statue in Bolton Town Centre.

Ward councillor David Wilkinson said: “Like all statues and public art there are varying shades of opinion and I personally don’t like the design of the statue, but there will a prominent public memorial to the men and boys who died at that day only four days away from Christmas.”

“Today’s Westhoughton is totally different world to 1910 and the hardships which went with being a miner which was then the main employment in Westhoughton.”