EAST Lancashire residents are being urged to become eco-warriors by the Bishop of Blackburn.

The Rt Rev Nicholas Reade is using his Easter Sunday sermon at Blackburn Cathedral to encourage people to do their bit for environment by becoming "God's green disciples".

The Bishop, whose diocese covers more than 200 parishes across Lancashire, urges the people to contemplate how they can become greener and help in "resurrecting God's world from a potential death sentence" of climate change.

The sermon says: "Today's Gospel tells us of new life in a garden and we are called to help restore God's garden of the world from the ravages of pollution.

"It is not enough to deny the evidence, leave it to somebody else, or despair."

Ways he suggests this can be achieved include turning down central heating and buying fair trade products.

Other steps include flying less and walking more and remembering people in less fortunate circumstances.

He says: "We must constantly set our often consumerism-driven dreams against the world's harsher realities, and particularly the needs of the world's neediest people, for whom clean water, adequate food, housing and education do remain a dream" and adds: "We celebrate the goodness of God by becoming his green disciples.

"In this way we turn death into life, so living out daily the Lord's mighty resurrection."

Doubts anyone has about the Christian faith, he suggests, should be answered "through the experience of Christ's resurrection. Our country, our world needs resurrection.

"Today we celebrate the day that changed the world, when death became new life, in and through the Risen Christ.

"This historical fact is God's moment of redeeming history, so the future could be envisaged in a new way."