AN award-nominated parade - which last year featured characters from TV's Paw Patrol dotted around Blackburn - is set to return for 2020.

And promoters from Blackburn BID (Business Improvement District) have pledged even more time and attention will be lavished on the exhibition.

Judges from the Good Retail Awards have selected the 'Brickburn' event, which took over the town centre for 10 days last August, for a 'retail district' prize.

Town trading bosses installed 15 characters, as part of the 2019 trail, at strategic locations. One fire engine alone was made up of 150,000 individual bricks.

Six kittens were also erected in Blackburn Market as part of a separate stand-alone display.

Catherine Price, Blackburn BID manager, said: "The aims of the PAW Patrol Brick Trail were to deliver a fun, enjoyable and safe family-focused event, attract a new audience into the town centre, change outdated perceptions of the town centre and its businesses and increase footfall and dwell time of visitors."

More than 1,000 families a day, on average, were estimated to have taken part in the colourful trail.

The BID team will discover on Tuesday if the town centre initiative has found favour with the judges during the Spring Fair retail gathering at Birmingham's NEC.

Rivals in their field include Perth City Centre, Once Upon A Time In Birmingham, Greenwich Market and a fellow BID team in Lincoln.

Specialist modellers from Surrey-based BrickLive, a fledgling partner for Nickleodeon, Paw Patrol's parent channel, laid out the 'Brickburn' trail.

When the Brickburn event is staged this year it will feature an array of dinosaurs, it has been confirmed.