A NEW film capturing the friendly face of Blackburn is now being screened daily in its museum and art gallery.

Made last summer and financed by the British Museum, it is a response to the January 2018 BBC Panorama documentary portraying the town as ‘segregated’.

Antony Barkworth-Knight, director of the 15-minute film 'Blackburn', said: "I wanted to create an intimate portrait of the town. I spent the summer walking the streets and parks, filming what I saw. I discovered a calm, quiet and green town populated by some of the friendliest people I have met.

"In the film what you see are portraits of people who live in Blackburn. When we talk about big issues like segregation or community cohesion, we miss the point we are all people living our lives. I wanted a film in which that was the focus, so we see people as individuals rather than in terms of age, gender, culture or religion."

Cllr Damian Talbot, Blackburn with Darwen Council culture boss, said: "We’re very fortunate to have attracted a grant from the British Museum to fund Antony’s film project to update our social history gallery. This gallery tells the story of Blackburn through the ages."