AN online treasure trove featuring thousands of images of Bury from yesteryear is now available for people to enjoy.

Bury Council has launched its new image bank website giving computer access to the historical pictures.

More than 15,000 photographs never before shared with members of the public are available to view on the free website.

And the not-for-profit project provides free downloadable images. But if people want good quality images, they can be purchased through the website online shopping basket feature.

The historical photographs of the area are accessible on the website through free text searching and keyword selection.

This service is reliant on the knowledge of local people to ensure images are correctly identified.

Another great feature of the website is “Can you Help?” which gives anyone the opportunity to send comments to the archives team to help improve the descriptions of photographs.

Diana Sorrigan, assistant director (arts, libraries and adult learning), said: “We really want people to get involved in helping us label the collection correctly.

“One of the reasons we upgraded to a new system was that the old system relied on people coming in to the library to look at the images. But they could not be printed out in high quality.

“By putting it online, people who have come from Bury, but now live in foreign countries, can help out. I hope that many people enjoy looking through the photos and having a trip down memory lane.”

The photographs originate from the council, local organisations and people of the borough who have donated material to the libraries and archives services over the last 50 years.

As more donations arrive, new material is being added to the website which can be found at: buryimagebank.

org.uk