PEOPLE are being given the chance to be jurors at a re-trial of the Pendle Witches.

The chance to deliver the verdict on the 1612 trial of the witches is just one of a full day of events looking at the story.

‘The Lancashire Witches: Then and Now’ is part of Lancaster University’s pioneering Campus in the City project and will take place from 10am-3pm on Friday at the campus set up at St Nicholas Arcade.

Visitors to the shopping centre are being urged to join the jury and give their verdicts on one of the most sensational trials ever held in the city.

Throughout the day, volunteer groups will be presented with the evidence before being asked to decide on guilt or innocence.

Dr Liz Oakley-Brown, senior lecturer in Shakespeare and renaissance writing and one of the organisers of the event, said: “The fascination with this episode of Lancashire’s history continues and shows no signs of waning.

“In the eyes of most Lancastrians the Lancashire Witches have long been pardoned and rehabilitated.

“Hallowe’en is no longer a night when we fear unquiet souls, but a carnival of fancy dress and “trick or treat”.

“The Pendle Witch trail is a tourist attraction, followed by many visitors on buses, and few exorcists.”