A COMPREHENSIVE eight chapter document will form the centrepiece of Blackburn and Darwen's bid to become a city.

Council leaders hope it will persuade Home Office ministers that the borough should be the town chosen from a growing list of bidders to be Britain's millennium city.

Blackburn with Darwen's document starts with a summary of the area and how it has applied to become a city on four previous occasions - in 1935, 1951, 1977 and 1991.

Chapter two looks at heritage, starting with Blackburn's mention in the Domesday book and tracing the history of the towns through the middle ages, the industrial revolution and Mahatma Gandhi's visit in 1931.

The next chapter describes Blackburn and Darwen's cultural and religious mix and racial harmony.

The fourth chapter explains how the area has been regenerated in more recent years.

Chapter five details Blackburn's history as a centre of learning from the 1930s, when the borough pioneered technical education, through to the modern day with the setting up of a government education action zone.

The sixth and seventh chapters portray the borough as a centre for the arts and the media and the home of Blackburn Rovers, who are the only town team to have won the English premiership.

At the end of the document, a plea is made to those who will ultimately make the decision.

It says: "The year 2000 will herald a new age in Blackburn and Darwen, one that local people look forward to with expectation and energy. "If this were to be the age of the city for Blackburn and Darwen, it would be an honour well deserved."

The bid will have to be lodged with the Home Office by the start of September.

A successful bid for city status would open the way for the possibility of the council asking for authority to appoint a Lord Mayor instead of a Mayor.

But a town hall spokeswoman said this had not been discussed at great length as part of the city bid.

She said that any decision on whether to ask to have a Lord Mayor would be taken as part of general changes to the restructuring of the council which will take place during 1999 and 2000.

But any decision would, in any case, be conditional on winning the race to be a city.

To say in 50 words or less why you think Blackburn with Darwen should be made into Britain's newest city for the millennium, either:

Write to The Editor (City Bid), Lancashire Evening Telegraph, High Street, Blackburn, BB1 1HT;

Phone 0990 44 66 44 then select 9030 or 9031; or

E-mail: let_editorial@thisislancashire.co.uk

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.