A 10-tonne beast with more than 130 teeth has broken free near the M6 at Haydock.

But there's no cause for alarm - the two-metre diameter monster is a tunnelling machine and its emergence marks the completion of the first of 21 tunnels along the route of the West East Link Pipeline.

United Utilities is building the 55-km pipeline to move water supplies between Liverpool and Manchester.

Since July the boring machine has been driving its way through 300 metres of rock so that the pipeline can pass seven metres beneath the M6 near the Holiday Inn at Haydock.

Jon Higham, United Utilities project manager, said: "This is a landmark moment for the project. After two years of careful planning, this tunnel is the first serious piece of excavation. It signals the start of one of the most ambitious engineering projects the region has ever seen.

"Once complete, the pipeline will ensure we can provide an even more reliable water supply to customers across the North West. It is investment work like this that our customers are helping to deliver with the money from their bills."

Stretching from Prescot Reservoir in Merseyside to Woodgate Hill Reservoir in Bury, the 55km United Utilities pipeline will be capable of moving up to 100 million litres of water a day across the region - safeguarding supplies for millions of customers.

Sixteen kilometres of the route will run through St Helens, from south of Eccleston to the East of Haydock Park. The route has been designed to avoid residential streets and minimise highways disruption.

A further three tunnels will be built in St Helens - beneath the Wigan to Liverpool railway, Windle Island on the A580, and Goyt Wood.

The pipeline, which is expected to be completed by 2011, forms part of United Utilities' £2.9 billion water and environmental improvement programme.