THREE men and a boy have been charged in connection with the illegal occupation and ransacking of a Blackburn brewery.

Six people were arrested in raids yesterday following the incident at Thwaites brewery over the second May Bank Holiday weekend in which £100,000 of damage was caused.

And following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service four of those people have been charged.

They are: Thomas Ward, 43 who is charged with blackmail, burglary and criminal damage; Patrick Ward, 32, charged with burglary and criminal damage; John Ward, 33, charged with burglary, criminal damage and shoplifting and a 16 year old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, who is charged with burglary and criminal damage. The men and teenager, who are all from Leigh, are due to appear before Blackburn Magistrates Court tomorrow.

Two 21-year-old men arrested on suspicion of burglary have been released under investigation.