Open House, with BILL JACOBS

ROSSENDALE and Darwen MP Janet Anderson will take part in a triathlon - stunning her colleagues at Westminster.

She will swim a mile to help Rossendale Tory councillor Jimmy Eaton, displaying a previously unknown athletic prowess.

Jimmy - described by Mrs Anderson as "a very fit Bacup postman" - does the triathlon to raise money for a local charities. A number of local personalities take part in relay versions to support his effort.

Mrs Anderson - who said Coun Eaton was a "good Tory" - will do a one-mile swimming leg at the Marl Pits Sports Centre, Rawtenstall, on July 4.

She said: "I was a keen swimmer when I was younger and was asked to join the county swimming team when we lived in Wiltshire."

PENDLE MP Gordon Prentice has taken a big political risk in the run-up to Euro 2004.

Days before England start their campaign, he congratulated Manchester United player Darren Fletcher on becoming the youngest captain of the Scottish football team since the Second World War at the age of 20.

Edinburgh-born and bred Mr Prentice had better hope England do well and the next general election doesn't come too soon so die-hard England fans forget where his football loyalties lie.

HYNDBURN MP Greg Pope launched an attack on the Chechnya's human rights record during a public session of the Foreign Affairs Committee this week, before flying out with an all-party group to Russia. He admitted: "It might have been better to make the criticism after I came back and not just before I went."

AFTER finding out a special steam train was running from Rawtenstall to Bury and back, Burnley MP Peter Pike decided on a blast from the past.

He said: "I splashed out and bought myself a ticket. Everyone was in 1940s dress and it reminded me of my first railway journey to Burnley when I was evacuated to the town during the war."