THEY say every cloud has a silver lining, but Jeff Crook's was lined with mother of pearl.

Jeff had to do some work on his Blackburn house when he discovered damp in one of the rooms that hadn't been touched for more than 30 years.

But when workmen removed the plaster from the ceiling they discovered it was lined with oyster shells.

Jeff, who runs Cliff Crook and Sons Handy Hire on Whalley Range, said: "Our house is part of the same building as the shop and my grandad first moved here in 1919.

"We moved in 30 years ago and had never done any work in this room since we moved in, so it was a real shock when we took the plaster off to find the shells complete with mother of pearl.

"The original process for making lime was to burn oyster shells, but I believe that was done on the coast, so I don't know how we have ended up with this in Blackburn."

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