FORMER Burnley councillor Marcus Johnstone will be "coming home" to fight for a seat on Lancashire County Council at May's elections.

The Labour stalwart has been selected to fight Burnley West -- which includes Padiham, part of Whittlefield and Deerplay -- for Labour, even though he now lives in the Preston area.

The selection of a candidate from outside the area is unprecedented for the local Labour Party.

But Coun Johnstone, a Burnley councillor for 11 years before leaving town to be nearer his work as a lecturer in journalism, says distance is no object when it comes to serving Burnley constituents.

He said: "In these days of modern communications and the vastly-improved local motorway network, distance is no longer an issue as it only takes me 40 minutes to get to Burnley West."

Coun Johnstone, a Preston councillor, added: "Constituents can of course always contact me by phone or by ringing my mobile."

The former chairman of Burnley's job-creation economic committee said: "My heart has always been in Burnley and I am looking forward to returning to represent local people again."

"To be asked to come back and fight an election in this way is a dream come true."