SPEAKERS from Burnley scored a hat-trick when they scooped all the trophies in East Lancashire speaking competitions.

Nine clubs in the North Pennine Area were eligible to compete for the speech, evaluation and topics competitions held in Blackburn and Haslingden.

First to notch up success from Burnley Ladies' Speakers' Club was Pamela Jelley who won the speech contest at the Masonic Hall in Blackburn with an excellent talk which mirrored the romantic poets' views on the seasons with the harsh realities.

Sheila Clay made it a double by winning the topics competition when she gave an impromptu speech on a one word title.

And at Haslingden Cricket Club when Jean Stuttard evaluated a humorous speech and won the evaluation trophy for the second year in succession members of the club gave out a cheer.

All three will now represent North Pennine area in the Western district competition at Lancaster University on February 11 when they will face speakers from all over the North West for the regional trophies.

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