BURY is setting sail to become an inland port with a dockside development of shops, restaurants and houses.

The Bury Times can reveal the ambitious plan has been hatched in line with a bid to restore the town's dormant canal to its former glory.

Proposals to revamp the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal include a heritage waterside quarter in Daisyfield, complete with wharfside shops, restaurants and housing.

Architects would aim to give Bury its own version of the Albert Dock in Liverpool.

At the heart of the development would be two wharf basins on land between Wellington Street, Bolton Road and the River Irwell.

They would be surrounded by a mixture of Victorian mills converted for commercial or residential use and new retail and leisure developments alongside canal and river banks.

Officials from Bury Council and British Waterways have already garnered support from landowners with the aim of creating hundreds of jobs through private investment at the site.

The dockside terminus would complement a £32 million restoration of the canal to its full navigable status, and provide moorings for tourist and restaurant boats.

Councillor Derek Boden, lead council member for sustainable development, said: "The project is yet another important strand in the renaissance of Bury.

"The prospect that Bury will become an inland port is something that will prove attractive to a lot of people and will see the town recognised further as an important centre of activity."

Adrian Frost, partnership and investment manager for Bury Council, said: "We have been speaking to businesses along the canal and almost all of them have been enthusiastic.

"Some have been a little cautious because this is a big project, but what happens will very much depend on what landowners want to do.

"What we are trying to sell is the idea that there is an exciting investment opportunity.

"We have old buildings which are ripe for conversion into new uses, and industrial buildings without that historic quality which could make way for exciting new developments."

Work is expected to begin on Bury's stretch of the waterway late next year, with a completion date set for 2006. It will include re-excavation of canal sections south of the Daisyfield viaduct and work on the Water Street road bridge in Radcliffe.

Mr Marcus Challoner, project manager for British Waterways, said: "What we are striving to create is the opportunity for changes along the canal such as the dockside.

"It will be down to landowners and Bury Council to make it happen, but we will support them and work with them to realise a great opportunity."

The project is part of huge changes in the pipeline for Bury town centre, after a £50 million plan was unveiled last month to expand shopping facilities on The Rock.