ONE of the attractions of East Lancashire's town centres is their varied markets which draw both local people and visitors to the area.

Blackburn's indoor market, for example, has a widespread reputation and has been a destination for coach parties from throughout the North West.

But out-of-town retail parks have changed shopping habits and forced the markets to rethink how they sell themselves and come up with novel ways of finding new customers and wooing back old ones at the same time.

Part of the attraction of Clitheroe is as a market town where busy streets of small shops are complemented by a variety of stalls on a market described as a "cornerstone of the town's economy."

Saturday and Tuesday are traditional market days but in 1999 an additional Thursday market was launched only to be blitzed two years later by the foot and mouth crisis.

Now cut-price stall rents are being used to make the Thursday market as popular as the other two days which are full up.

This initiative along with special events, and attractions like a Christmas craft market, have helped the market to perform better than many other markets across the region.

That's the sort of enterprise which we need to keep our town centres alive and thriving.