A 98-YEAR-OLD charity worker and a local historian who helped bring the fate of the Accrington Pals to the world's attention have been given the Freedom of Hyndburn Borough.

Alice Horne, from Oswaldtwistle, and Bill Turner, from Accrington, were given the title -- the highest a council can bestow -- at a ceremony at Accrington Town Hall yesterday.

Council leader, Peter Britcliffe, described Miss Horne, who is wheelchair-bound, partially blind and suffers from arthritis but still manages to help disabled people in the borough, as "amazing."

She started her charity work in her 20s baking and making clothes for people in the work houses during the depression.

He said: "When she was 70, at a time when most of us would be putting our feet up, she decided to learn how to swim.

"She has done many sponsored swims and at her last one, aged 92, she raised £400."

Coun Britcliffe said the pensioner, who battled against polio as a child, recently had to show her "invincible spirit" again when she was robbed in her home.

He said: "She is an inspiration to all of us who know her and everyone in Hyndburn."

Bill Turner, 74, of Bamford Crescent, started to research the Accrington Pals regiment while studying for a diploma in history, and spent months interviewing families and collecting photographs.

He has since written three books on the 11th (Service) Battalion (Accrington) East Lancashire Regiment, who suffered devastating losses during the battle of the Somme, in 1916, and was driving force behind the memorial dedicated to them in Church Street Gardens.

Coun Britcliffe said: "His work has raised the profile of the Accrington Pals and of Hyndburn across the world."

He has also made sure the sacrifice they made for this town is never forgotten."