A TEAM of East Lancashire number crunchers have joined the Lancashire office of business advisers KPMG.

They are part of the biggest ever recruitment drive by the firm which has its office in Preston and covers an area ranging from East Lancashire to the Lake District.

The new recruits include Karen Sagar, 23, who joins the audit team. Karen, who lives in Hope Terrace, Blackburn, attended QEGS and Newcastle University. She joins KPMG from Kidsons Impey's Blackburn office.

Lisa Thompson, 26, also joins the audit team. She lives in Whitecroft Lane, Mellor and attended St Augustine's School, Billington.

And two local students have also joined the firm as tax students - Asraf Hasan, 21, of Balaclava Street, Blackburn, a former Billinge High School pupil who did an accounting and finance degree at London School of Management; and Kathryn Gibson, 30, of Dick Lane, Brinscall a student at the University of Central Lancashire.

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