ROSSENDALE and Darwen MP Janet Anderson will be rubbing shoulders with the stars after her promotion this week in Tony Blair's Government re-shuffle.

Mrs Anderson has been named as a junior minister in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in charge of tourism, film and broadcasting.

Mrs Anderson, whose constituency includes Edenfield, gets the job previously held by sacked minister Tom Clarke, but her film and tourism role has been beefed-up with the crucial addition of broadcasting in the approaching digital age.

And while she can look to a pretty heavy workload - which started off with answering a half-hour debate in the Commons on concessionary TV licences less than 24 hours after she got the post - there are also a few perks.

The job is one of the most glamorous in the Government - her predecessor Mr Clarke rubbed shoulders with the stars at film festivals including Cannes and Robert Redford's Sundance Festival in Utah. He also travelled the world promoting Britain as a tourist destination. And Mrs Anderson said that a key element of her job would be promoting all of Britain as a tourist destination and film location - particularly all of England.

She said: "In Rossendale I live in one of the most beautiful parts of Britain, and I want to promote that and the North West everywhere I go."

Bury and the Rossendale Valley have already proved a magnet for film-makers on the small and big screen for years. The East Lancs Railways has featured as a location in many TV shows and films, including Let Him Have It, shown recently on Channel 4.

She wants to build on successes like All Quiet On The Preston Front and Hetty Wainthrop Investigates, both of which have filmed in the vicinity. One episode of Hetty Wainthrop had scenes filmed in the Bury Times office!

Admitting there are a few perks to the job - which Mr Clarke said was the best in government - she said: "I can promise people it won't turn my head.

"Constituency surgeries will go on as usual and despite meeting glamorous film stars the most important people in my life will be my family and my constituents."

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