A MAN has arrived in Penwortham with a mission to put the town on the map.

New town manager, Steven Caswell, has set his sights set on making Penwortham the best in the north west.

As well as helping residents get involved in a range of community activities, Mr Caswell aims to hold a huge firework display at the town's annual gala on June 12.

He said: "I want to get the whole community involved. We are going to make Penwortham the place everyone wants to live."

Mr Caswell, a former marketing manager at Rossendale Borough Council, took up the reins of his new job two weeks ago.

It is a post developed by Penwortham Town Council in their work toward Quality Status, a government initiative to be taken up by all town and parish councils and aimed at providing better local services.

Mr Caswell, from Blackburn, will also be expected to prepare the town council for possible future changes in the way local government is run.

He will be based at Penwortham Community Centre, Kingsfold Drive and will also be helping to raise the profile of the centre and help user groups gain funding.

Representative for Penwortham, Councillor David Wooldridge said: "Steve will bring a lot to the area as he has a lot of experience. Being from East Lancashire he has a great understanding of the locality and dealing with the people. He will certainly put Penwortham on the map and get involved with all the local council and community groups."

Joining Mr Caswell's team next month will be Michael Cronin, as democratic services manager, who currently does that job at South Ribble Borough Council.

People can contact Mr Caswell on 01772 750533 or 07817 655943 to discuss issues about their area.