RADCLIFFE'S new illuminated sculpture will be officially switched on this evening (Fri May 4).

The four-metre high "In The Bulrushes" by artist William Pym is formally unveiled at Wolsey Street at 7pm.

The £15,000 work in galvanised steel was inspired by the nearby Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal. It has bulrush motifs, a canal barge hidden in the bottom and lights to transform the sculpture at night.

It is the town's latest addition to the multi-million pound Irwell Sculpture Trail, which runs from Salford through Bury to Rossendale.

The ceremony will be carried out by Councillor Barry Briggs, chairman of Radcliffe area board, and Phil Summers, deputy chief executive of Irwell Valley Housing Association.

The sculpture is the second collaboration between the IST and Irwell Valley at the new housing development at Britannia Mills.

The first was "Nailing Home" by Jack Wright, a series of huge nails hammered into a plot on Smyrna Street, studded with slogans from the UN declaration of the rights of the child.

Mr Wright will give a talk about his sculpture at 6.45pm immediately before the new unveiling.