RESIDENTS have been asked to nominate areas of their town they think deserve heritage protection.

The call comes as Community Assets Standing Tall (CAST) was awarded just under £50,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The charity is set to undertake a two-year listing project of Rossendale’s assets.

The group wants residents to nominate places that are important to their area.

Walls, plaques, windows, post boxes and buildings can all be put forward.

Ian Taylor, one of CAST’s trustees, said the listed items will be will be protected in the future from demolition or development.

He said: “Nationally many heritage groups have chosen the items in their areas they believe they want to be protected.

“However we were really keen to involve as many people as possible and wanted everyone to get involved.

“People may really enjoy or like a certain feature in their town that they want to keep and they should be given the opportunity to put it forward.

“I would like to see the former NatWest bank in Bacup to be nominated by someone as it is a prominent building within the town.”

Each item put forward will be looked at against a series of criteria to determine whether its eligible for listing.

The first round of nominations will begin in November in Bacup with a further nine areas to follow covering the whole of Rossendale.

Area by area the Rossendale community will be invited to a community meeting so the project can be explained in detail.

A heritage talk which highlights the history that surrounds the list and training will provide the knowledge on how to take control of, and look after those assets.

Carl Bradshaw, another trustee, said: “This will be a great opportunity for volunteers to learn about Rossendale and help preserve its heritage for future generations to enjoy.”

It is hoped that the resources and systems developed will provide an easily accessible system for everyone to continue registering heritage within the valley and a team of trained volunteers to administer it.

Rossendale Council’s heritage champion, Cllr Annie McMahon, said: “I, together with the council’s conservation officer and community representatives, have already held early meetings on the process of updating our local listing and welcome this exciting funding and CAST’s important contribution to this work.”

To nominate a site call CAST on 01706 875371.