A MEMORIAL service is being held to commemorate the victims of the Pretoria Pit Tragedy.

The service will take place on Saturday, 114 years to the day since 344 men and boys lost their lives in one of Great Britain’s worst mining disasters.

Commemorative events will be held in Westhoughton in the morning before Bolton West MP Julie Hilling leads the service at 2pm at the memorial site on Broadway, off Newbrook Road, Over Hulton.

The service will include songs, poems and prayers led by the Rev Bracegirdle, followed by the laying of wreaths.

Ms Hilling said: “For more than 100 years our community has come together to commemorate the lives of those who died in Pretoria Pit.

“I hope local residents are able to join me at the service.”