BLACKBURN Cathedral is to go green' with the installation of an enviro- nmentally-friendly £70,000 boiler which burns wood chips as fuel.

The specialist biomass boiler will be fitted as part of a £45million development scheme which includes building 84 apartments in the cathedral grounds.

The boiler will provide all the heating for the development and for the cathedral building.

Church leaders also revealed that rainwater will be collected from roofs in the development to provide water for flushing toilets.

Today environmental group Friends of the Earth welcomed the plans and said it was a step in the right direction.

The regeneration project, due to begin next year and be completed within five years, involves building homes, underground parking, two new public squares, a new cathedral library, and gardens next to the cathedral.

The scheme, currently being examined by Blackburn with Darwen Council planners, involves building 75 apartments, 12 town houses, and nine apartments for clergy.

The Dean of Blackburn, the very Rev Christopher Armstrong, said the biomass boiler fitted in with the Christian ethos of the cathedral and a desire to be more environmentally-friendly.

He added: "I am delighted we are able to champion this sort of technological advance."

Steve Mills, a director of Chorley-based Environ-mental Design Consultants, said: "Biomass is central to the strategy for the cathedral development it's one of the core principles that underpins the scheme.

"We need to make sure we are doing it as sustainably as we can, but it is also commercially viable."

He said the boiler, which costs about £70,000, would burn wood chips, from sustainable woodlands within 20 miles of Blackburn, and the energy costs of burning chips was half that of using gas.

Brian Jackson, of Friends of the Earth, said: "I welcome anything that is going to reduce the carbon footprint for the cathedral.

"I would describe it as a valuable step on the road to sustainability."

Architect James Sanderson said the biomass boiler would be similar in size to the 30-year-old boiler it will replace.

It will also have an addition called a combined heat and power unit, which generates electricity and can be turned on at peak times to provide lighting for the cathedral.

"It's about the cathedral looking after resources as they are finite."

He said the chips would be delivered on a weekly basis and loaded into a hopper that automatically feeds the machine.

He said it creates about one wheelie bin of ash per fortnight, which would be taken away from the site.

"Because it is so efficient, nothing is expelled through the chimney really. It is set up to re-burn any excess."

He added: "We have also included rainwater recovery, rather than just letting it go down the sewers."

He said the water would be used in the development, and the cathedral precinct, to flush toilets.

It is yet to be decided which roofs the water will be collected from, but it could include the cathedral roof.

He said the water, not suitable for drinking, can be used for cleaning the buildings, washing cars, and watering plants.