INTEREST-free loans are on offer to Blackburn and Darwen householders who want to replace lead service pipes in their homes.

North West Water is offering loans, repayable over two years, to help cash-strapped families replace ageing pipes.

The scheme will fund replacement from the boundary stop tap to the kitchen tap, and North West Water will replace the communication pipe - running from the stop tap to the main - free of charge.

The joint initiative between North West Water and Blackburn Council is aimed at owners of 12,000 homes with lead pipes in the borough.

The scheme will also be open to council tenants who will not have to pay as the council will bear the cost. Council housing committee chairman Coun Andy Kay welcomed the initiative, but said the council had been pressing for a five-year loan period because families living in the worst affected areas tended to be on lower incomes.

He pointed out the council had its own programme of pipe replacement for council properties, and this year doubled the budget to £100,000.

NWW Blackburn territory manager Paul Holt said: "If a householder is concerned they may have lead pipes they should contact us and we will test the water for lead and arrange a free quotation."

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