AN exhibition in honour of local naturalist and broadcaster Eric Halsall has been put on display at a library in his name.

The Eric Halsall Library will be official opened at the Natural History Centre, Towneley Hall, Burnley, on Friday, March 6, by Philip Gilbert.

Mr Gilbert was a close friend and the original producer of the popular BBC 2 programme One Man and his Dog of which the late Mr Halsall was an expert commentator and presenter.

A local man, Mr Halsall built up a wealth of knowledge and experience of the outdoors which he shared in numerous articles.

His close association with the One Man and his Dog programme gave him national status.

The library has been formed to honour his memory and to commemorate his life.

Many of the books on display belonged to him and were donated shortly after his death in October by his wife Rita.

The library has been supplemented by volumes from Towneley museum's own collections to create a natural history library of about 1,800 books.

The library will be available for research by visitors to the museum.

Financial support has been provided by North West Water, Soroptimists International (Burnley), the BBC One Man and his Dog programme, Burnley Rotary Club, North West Museums Service and Towneley Hall Society.

A private benefactor also donated a substantial sum.

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