A BLACKBURN company has developed world-beating technology to capture more than 150 years of Lancashire history on CD-ROM.

Cad-Capture, based at the Greenbank Technology Park, was given the challenge of creating an electronic version of historic maps of Lancashire dating back to the 1840s.

A mass of information is now available at the touch of a button and the company is now selling its pioneering software throughout the UK.

Cad-Capture specialises in providing document management solutions and is used to one-off data capture jobs. But as marketing executive Chris Wilding explained, the mission was an unusual one.

"This was the first time we have been asked to scan historic maps, " he said. "We usually work with specialist plans, drawings and technical documents.

"It was quite a challenge, but it was very interesting to develop the software so solve the problems that cropped up."

The challenge was set by Lancashire County Council's Archaeological Service whose maps are used by historians, academics and developers.

Daily handling of the large maps was putting the originals at risk and a 21st Century solution was needed.

Scanning the maps was the easy part of the process. Converting them to a format where they could be overlaid on modern-day Ordnance Survey maps created the problem.

Mr Wilding explained that the old cartographers had drawn the maps to take into account the earth's curvature.

Modern maps were flat and the old ones needed to be electronically manipulated to enable a proper comparison to be made between the last two centuries.

Cad-Capture has now stored the data from more than 170 old maps which presents a snapshot of Lancashire life in the 1840s and1890s.

A sample set of the town maps has been added to other historical images on Lancashire County Council's website where they are proviing to be a popular attraction.

Established in 1987, Cad-Capture now employs around 50 people.