EAST Lancashire enterprise and was given the royal seal of approval by the Duke of Kent yesterday.

Prince Edward, the Queen's cousin, visited two award-winning firms and officially opened the new £3million Burnley Community Fire Station.

At the new fire station in Belvedere Road, the Prince was given a tour of the new facility, met serving fire officers and watched a fire safety demonstration, before he unveiled a plaque to mark the official opening of the building.

He said he was ‘pleased’ to have been able to meet the fire crews.

Steve Morgan, service delivery manager at Burnley Fire Station, said: “It is a very proud day for us. There is a real emphasis on this being a community fire station and we saw signs of that with our community open day.

“Lots of preparation has gone into the day and we are privileged to have a member of the Royal Family officially open the building.

“His Royal Highness had something to eat at the station and we spoke about what we wanted to achieve with the community station and how we wanted it to operate as a community fire station.

“He seemed very impressed with the station.”

Coun Frank Cant, mayor of Burnley, said: “It is a fabulous facility and is great for the community in Burnley.

“I went on the guided tour with His Royal Highness and he was very impressed with the station. He was taking particular interest in the new fire engine which was on display.”

Before arriving in Burnley, he toured Fort Vale Engineering in Simonstone, opening a £1.5million research and development centre and the visited the new headquarters of lighting firm acdc in Barrowford.

The visit was prompted by acdc’s high profile contract win secured earlier this year to supply £5million of lighting to Muscat airport in Oman.

Ian Wilson, managing director at Fort Vale, said: “We were honoured to welcome the Duke of Kent to continue what has been another exciting and excellent year for us all here at Fort Vale.

“The opening of the research and development centre underlines our commitment to investment in training and innovation, which, along with the people here, are cornerstones of our success.”