RELIGIOUS leaders left their usual surroundings to see community life for themselves during a tour of Blackburn and Darwen.

The visit was the last in a series which has seen three bishops and their assistants get a better understanding of all 14 deaneries in the area.

The Bishop of Blackburn, the Right Rev Alan Chesters, stopped off at the Lancashire Evening Telegraph and Radio Lancashire, both in Blackburn, and Akzo Nobel in Darwen.

He met pupils and staff at St Andrew's Primary School and St Bartholomew's Primary School in Blackburn and also went to Richardson House for the Deaf in Blackburn.

The Bishop of Burnley, the Right Rev Martyn Jarrett went to St Gabriel's Church Parish Centre in Blackburn, Relate and the Marist Fathers and looked at community projects in Darwen, including the Tower View Centre for Mentally Handicapped Adults and Derwent Hall.

The latest round of visits began after a civic lunch at Blackburn College and will end with a joint church lunch at St Jude's Church in Blackburn.

Rev Kevin Arkell, the Rural Dean for Blackburn with Darwen, said: "Visit were arranged for significant locations to increase the profile of the church, to gain access to some places where the church is rarely seen and to help the senior staff of our diocese to gain a more detailed knowledge of the deanery."

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