PLANS to bring thousands of visitors to Blackburn and Darwen in the year 2000 look set to attract major funding.

Council bosses say they are confident their bids for millennium cash will be successful, giving them money to spend on a series of events during the year.

Already proposals are being discussed which would involve a series of special projects being funded, including a theme for each week of the year 2000.

Each ethnic group in the borough would have its own week while themes based on the cultures of other countries in the world may also be included.

Other possible themes include a women's week, childrens week, Third World week and green week.

Meanwhile the council also hopes to have a giant clock erected in both Blackburn and Darwen to count down the days hours and minutes to January 1, 2000.

The Blackburn clock would be fitted to the town hall while a venue for the Darwen clock has yet to be decided.

Suggestions for individual events during the year were sent to the council via a form that appeared on the pages of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

Ideas from those forms are under review and will be discussed by the council's millennium task group.

Schools from across the borough are also being encouraged to take a full part and a meeting is planned between councillors and head teachers.

Chairman of the task group Coun Ashley Whalley said: "If the ownership of these events is not in the community, then they will not work.

"The council should get people involved in celebrating the millennium in the way they would like."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.