BLACKBURN stand-up comedian and long-standing customer Tez Ilyas was the star of the official opening of a £500,000 at Specsavers store in the town's Mall shopping centre.

The branch has doubled in size and now has ten optical consulting rooms instead of five and two new sound-proofed audio testing units.

Following the closure of the opticians' smaller outlet in Morrisons in Blackburn, it is looking tor recruit another nine staff on top of its current 90.

The branch ha also invested in new state-of-the-art equipment including an ocular coherence tomograph to spot the early signs of retinal diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration.

Mr Ilyas, who attended Witton Park High School with the store's opthalmology director Ahmed Deshmukh, said: "I am delighted to be here. Sight is very important and I have been coming to Specsavers for twenty years.

"I need to be able to see to find my way to the stage but sometimes I wish I had left my contact lenses at home when I see the number of people not laughing in the audience."

Store director Mandy Jeewooth said: "It has been a complete refit costing £500,000. We are now looking to a bright and busy future."

The launch event included performances from Darwen's Rothwell Arts Dance Academy, sponsored by Specsavers, among many other activities.

The day raised money for Chorley's Derian House Children's Hospice.

Mr Deshmukh said: "It's great to have Tez here."