A COMPETITION has been launched to find the best pictures of hobbies and pastimes.

Blackburn Council's 1997 Photographic Competition, launched at the Lewis Textile Museum, is looking for snaps taken within the boundary of anything from hill walking to reading.

Sponsors Gallery 19 are donating £80 of prizes for winners and for the first year there is a junior category for under 16s.

Closing date for pictures, which must be taken within the borough boundary, is September 30.

Entry forms are available from Blackburn and Darwen Town Halls, Boots, Blackburn, and Gallery 19, Darwen Street, Blackburn.

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