BLACKBURN School of Music has taken delivery of a new £25,000 grand piano for its concert hall.

The school, based in Preston New Road, traded in its Steinway, which it had for 20 years, for a Japanese Kawai concert grand.

The new piano measures seven inches longer than the previous one at 7ft 6ins.

To remove the old piano and move in the new one a first storey window had to be removed.

A forklift truck was used to switch the instruments and seven men had to carry the pieces, weighing more than 400 kilos, part of the way.

School principal Paul Greenhalgh said the new piano would take pride of place in the Barbirolli suite.

Mr Greenhalgh said the old piano had given good service to the school but needed some work doing to it, and a store in London agreed to a straight swap of instruments.