BUILDERS have been attracting attention in Bolton town centre — as they got to work building a 150ft snow slide.

The huge slide is set to be the crowning glory of Bolton’s Winter Wonderland attractions this Christmas when it opens this Saturday.

Construction on the structure begun on Friday and is expected to take five or six days.

The slide has previously proved popular with shoppers in Leeds and London, with Bolton Council bosses hoping it will provide a boost to Bolton businesses this festive season.

Sean Harriss, the council's chief executive, tweeted a picture of work beginning on the slide on Saturday.

He said: “The slide for Christmas is part of the council’s plan to encourage people to use the town centre over the festive period.”

This year’s festive attractions will also see the return of a 100ft Ferris wheel and a 255 square metre ice rink in Victoria Square.

The ice rink and a Santa’s grotto in Oxford Street are also due to open this Saturday with the big wheel opening on December 11.

Families can make the most of the festive attractions until January 4, with the Winter Wonderland open for longer than it was last year.

Last year nearly 20,000 people flocked to the town’s giant wheel.

Official figures showed 19,486 people took the skies on the ride, which dominated Victoria Square for four weeks.

A further 8,536 people got their on skates and went on the 200sq metre ice rink outside Bolton Town Hall — an increase of 26 per cent on the previous year.

Christmas shoppers driving into Bolton town centre will also get an early Christmas present in the shape of free parking after 3pm in Deane Road, the Octagon and Topp Way multi-storey car parks. Shoppers can already park for free at the weekend and on Bank Holidays.

Council leader Cllr Cliff Morris said: “The feedback we’ve had from retailers is that the free parking scheme has had a positive impact on their sales and we want to do everything we can to encourage more people into town and to support our town centre businesses, particularly in the run up to Christmas and New Year.

“We’ve got a bumper festive package this year and the free parking extension helps support this.”

Last year the scheme led to almost double the number of vehicles using the car parks — 164,000 compared to 86,000 drivers using the three NCP car parks in the previous 12 months.

Parking will also be free all day on Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day and the free after 3pm scheme will run until Friday, January 9, 2015.

Dates, costs and times of events are varied. Go to visitbolton.com/winterwonderland for more information.