PENDLE'S first walking festival has been hailed a success by organisers.

Tourism officer Mike Williams wanted the event to put Pendle on the map with the Lake District, Peak District and Yorkshire Dales as a haven for walkers.

Volunteers led more than 30 walks across the borough during the four-day festival which Mr Williams hopes will become an annual event.

He said: "We've had 20 or 30 people on some walks and somebody mentioned on Sunday they had had 50 people come along.

"It's been excellent. The weather played a part. The walks ranged from walking a mile along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal which people could do and not be out of breath to a clamber up Boulsworth Hill and everything in between."

Mr Williams praised the volunteers who had guided people around the borough and said the festival had brought people into the area.

He added: "We've had people on the walks from lots of different places. A couple of people would be local but the majority weren't from the borough of Pendle. We had a couple from Ipswich and I was talking to some walkers who said they knew of people who had stayed in the area for the festival."