Halton is a borough in North West England, administered by a unitary authority. It was created in 1974 as a district of Cheshire, and became a unitary authority on April 1, 1998, becoming an administrative county of itself in the process.
Its major towns are Runcorn and Widnes. It is named after the village of Halton within it. The area borders Merseyside, Warrington and Cheshire. The borough straddles the River Mersey — the area to the north (including Widnes) is historically part of Lancashire, that to the south, Cheshire.
