A £400,000 lottery grant is set to lead to the history of Lancashire's canals and rivers being chronicled on the internet.

The cash, given to The Waterways Trust by the Heritage Lottery Fund, has enabled all the information about the county's waterways stored by the Lancashire Records Office to be archived on the internet.

The decision to go online comes at one of the must important times for Lancashire's waterways network since their heyday during the industrial revolution.

The Ribble Link is currently being constructed in Preston, giving people using the Leeds and Liverpool canal access to the Lancaster Canal for the first time.

It will allow residents of Lancashire to search with ease through local archives and find out more about the history of their canals and waterways, as well as selling them as attractions to foreign visitors.

Called The Waterways Trust's Waterways Virtual Archive Catalogue, it will bring together under one 'virtual roof' information about the records contained in the British Waterways Archives -- currently dispersed at 15 locations across the UK, including Lancashire Record Office.

Little is known of exactly what information is stored across the country on waterways, which is why the Waterways Virtual Archive Catalogue will be an unparalleled historical resource which will stimulate and encourage wider public use.

Work on the Waterways Virtual Archive catalogue will begin this month and should be completed by August 2004.

County councillor Niki Penney, Cabinet Member for communications, information and lifelong learning, said: "This is such great news for Lancashire Record Office. The Waterways Virtual Archive Catalogue is a magnificent project that breaks new ground. The project will deliver major benefits for the people of Lancashire and allow people from across the world to learn more about Lancashire's canals and waterways.