OUR campaign singing the praises of Pennine Lancashire is hitting the bullseye with celebrities, politicians and religious leaders.

Jim Bowen, host of the long-running darts-based TV quiz show, and author and journalist Alastair Campbell are just two more well-known figures backing the drive to highlight the attractions and potential of the area.

MORE TOP STORIES:

The campaign, backed by Prime Minister David Cameron, celebrates local business and regeneration successes, remarkable people and beautiful countryside.

Mr Bowen, raised in Padiham and educated at Accrington Grammar school, who was a teacher before hosting ITV’s ‘Bullseye’ for 14 years, said: “I am delighted to endorse this campaign. Pennine Lancashire is a fantastic place mixing, history, the cotton industry inheritance, great people and beautiful countryside.”

Burnley FC fan Mr Campbell, former press secretary to Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair, said: “Pennine Lancashire is a great place with an amazing industrial heritage, a history of sporting excellence, particularly at Turf Moor, and amazing countryside.

“I support the Lancashire Telegraph in its campaign to celebrate and promote the area.”

Andrew Stephenson, the MP for Pendle, said: “I think that this is a fantastic campaign and we have a lot to shout about.

“We should be loud and proud of Pennine Lancashire and I’m constantly struck by people’s enthusiasm, the stunning countryside and the strong manufacturing base that we still have here.”

Blackburn Chamber of Trade president Tony Duckworth said: “We live in glorious countryside and are blessed with many opportunities.

“Pennine Lancashire has a very positive future.”

Burnley resident and Lancashire Council of Mosques chairman Abdul Hamid Qureshi said: “Pennine Lancashire is a wonderful and beautiful place.

“It has welcomed thousands of people from the Indian sub-continent who have been proud to contribute to it, their home, in return.

“It deserves celebrating and promoting and I support the Lancashire Telegraph campaign.”