THINGS are ‘getting better all the time’ for a family-run business in Colne, after it was chosen to appear on a new artwork based on the cover of an iconic Beatles album.

Pop artist Sir Peter Blake, famous for his sleeve design for Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, has used the idea to celebrate 40 independent shops in Britain, having been commissioned to celebrate ‘High Street Heroes’.

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In Sir Peter’s original, eight in from the top left of you find American writer Edgar Allan Poe, but the new image features Matthew Leedam, owner of Leedams’ Pharmacy in Keighley Road, Colne.

He said: “As a small family-owned business running for nearly 100 years, we feel a genuine part of the local community and are delighted that Sir Peter Blake has chosen to include us in his art.”

Leedams’ was established in 1922, and Matthew started worked there 29 years ago.

Sir Peter said: “Small shops and the Great British Shopkeeper have been at the forefront of British culture for hundreds of years now. The notion of a ‘Nation of Shopkeepers’ is embedded in our folklore and the wonderful variety of today’s independent shops as well as the character that small businesses bring to a local area make them an ideal subject matter for modern pop art.”.

“Having worked at a local butcher at the age of 13 I have also experienced the dedication and hard work that goes into running a small shop. It is for all these reasons that I am thrilled to be lending my support to a campaign that champions small businesses.”

Also featured on the Sgt Pepper’s album cover, released in 1967, were psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung, actress Marilyn Monroe, writer James Joyce, boxer Sonny Liston and a hairdresser’s wax dummy.