The
Metropolitan Borough of Wigan is a
metropolitan borough of
Greater Manchester, in
North West England. It is named after its largest component town and
former county borough,
Wigan and includes the towns and villages of
Leigh, part of
Ashton-in-Makerfield,
Ince-in-Makerfield,
Hindley,
Orrell,
Standish,
Atherton,
Tyldesley,
Golborne,
Lowton,
Billinge,
Astley,
Haigh and
Aspull. The borough was formed in 1974 and is an
amalgamation of several former local government districts and parishes. The borough has three
civil parishes and lies directly to the west of the
City of Salford and southwest of the
Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The local authority is
Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council.