PEOPLE are opening their homes to the public as part of a British Red Cross Appeal.

Their gardens are to be focal points for keen-eyed hordes of horticulturists wanting to take a look at how they keep them.

Nine homeowners have volunteered for their gardens to be open to the public as part of the British Red Cross Open Garden 2000 Scheme.

It is the first time the scheme has been tried in Lancashire and David Bollenburg, community fundraiser for the Lancashire branch of British Red Cross, praised those taking part.

He said: "With some of the bigger gardens we might have a stall although with the smaller ones we will just stick to providing refreshments.

"The owners let us have use of the gardens for free for the day and we charge the public a nominal fee with all the money going towards the Red Cross."

David added: "Some of the gardens are a real treat as they show people that wonderful results are achievable in a garden that probably has more in common with their own than Kew Gardens or a large country estate."

Eight gardens have already been visited in the area.

Next Sunday a garden in Brinscall is the venue with more scheduled later in the month.

For more details call David Bollenberg on 01772 709 555 ext 208.