HYNDBURN has been named a ‘priority development area’ by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

In a letter to MP Graham Jones, the fund’s government and parliamentary relations manager Hannah Sierp said Hyndburn would be the focus of development staff looking to fund projects in the area.

She said: “Hyndburn will not receive automatic funding but our aim is to generate a greater number of good quality bids, which will be able to compete with applications from other places.”

Money in the borough has been spent in Rhyddings Park, and the Lancashire Women’s Network was given funding for a cultural heritage project, which captured, documented and celebrated the stories of South Asian women who migrated to East Lancashire in the ’60s and ’70s.

Hannah added: “We have funded Pals for Life, that gives opportunies to local communities to develop their understanding of the First World War. We have also awarded Broadfield Specialist School funding for their ‘Home Alone During World War One’ project, which will enable students to work with artists and historians.”