UKIP bringing its national spring conference to Bolton has been labelled a “great symbolic moment” for the party’s local branch.

Hundreds of delegates from across the country descended on the Macron Stadium on Friday for the party’s first major event with Paul Nuttall MEP as leader.

A crowd of more than 500 people watched on as the likes of former leader Nigel Farage and North West chairman James Barker praised UKIP councillors and voters in Bolton for their success in recent years.

Cllr Sean Hornby, UKIP group leader in Bolton, said the event was a boost for the town’s economy and challenged the country’s other political parties to also come to Bolton.

He said: “This is a great symbolic moment for us.

“When Paul Nuttall launched his campaign from Bolton, he said that if elected he would bring the national conference to Bolton because this is the area where we have had the most success in the North West.

“We went from having no councillors to five very quickly and in my ward we had 72 per cent vote to leave the EU.

“UKIP is the first party to hold a national political conference in Bolton and I now challenge the other parties to come to Bolton to, because it is good for our economy.

“It is so good to see delegates from all over the country here.

“I was speaking to a couple last night who had come all the way from Kent and wanted to hear about what we had achieved here in Bolton.”

UKIP has enjoyed considerable support in Bolton in recent years, securing five council seats at the height of its success.

The party now has four sitting councillors — three in the Little Lever and Darcy Lever ward, plus one in Kearsley — and leaders now want to spread that success to other parts of Greater Manchester.

Both Mr Nuttall and Mr Farage have visited Bolton several times before and Paul Richardson, who was UKIP’s first elected councillor in Bolton, says they have taken note of the support the party has here.

He said: “We have had good connections with both Nigel Farage and Paul Nuttall, and when they have visited here they have obviously got a sense of Bolton’s potential and the number of disaffected Labour voters.

“They have seen our incredible success here over the last few years and we want to spread that across our other Greater Manchester branches.

“I want to see UKIP councillors in Stockport and Salford, it’s no good just having success in Bolton. That’s what I want this conference to be about.”

Opening the conference on Friday morning, Mr Barker said: “We have a very strong branch in Bolton, led by Paul Richardson and Sean Hornby.

“They have done fantastic work in the area.”

He added: “We are helping our branches increase their number of town and county councillors within the region.

“Our objective is to build the pyramid, getting the locals to support us and give us a platform on which to build.”