CHRISTMAS visitors to Morecambe will have the chance to see the latest addition to the town's award winning Tern art project this weekend.

Since the early summer, artists and local builders Norman Jackson's have worked together to create possibly the country's longest continuous work of public art - the 'Flock of Words'.

Also known as the Poem Path, it is the most ambitious project in this phase of Tern and runs for more than 300 metres through the Festival Market car park, linking Morecambe bus station with Marine Road opposite the Midland Hotel.

Set within landscaping and illuminated at night, the 2.5 metre wide path contains numerous sayings, poems and literary extracts that relate to the environment and bird life of Morecambe Bay.

Most of the path will be unveiled this week.

The remainder - at the Marine Road end of the path - will be open early in the new year.

An official opening ceremony will follow in spring.

The latest phase of Tern, which began with the Eric Morecambe statue, has drawn £1 million of Arts Council Lottery funding into the town and is an essential element in the city council's plans to regenerate Morecambe.

Cllr James Airey, cabinet member with responsibility for regeneration, says: "The project has been acclaimed nationally as an example of how to incorporate innovative public art into the regeneration process.

"Since its inception in the mid 1990s, it has attracted millions of pounds in grant aid and private investment.

It has proved excellent value for money.

It will add significantly to More-cambe's attractions and contri-bute to the town's ongoing re-generation."