BLACKBURN town centre provided the backdrop for a new Crimewatch Roadshow which hit national TV screens yesterday.

The programme, which is being broadcast live from Lancashire all week, featured an interview with Chief Constable Steve Finnigan plus appeals to help solve local and national crimes.

BBC social affairs reporter Dave Guest conducted interviews in Blackburn Cathedral's grounds with victims of crime and also spoke to shoppers in Accrington about the latest crime figures.

He also referred to the murder of Sophie Lancaster in Bacup and how Lancashire Police provided air and firearms support to their colleagues in Cumbria following Derrick Bird's killing spree.

Future programmes will look at the work of Lancashire's Mounted Police Section, the county's Wildlife Unit on the hunt for deer poachers and badger baiters and a series of police raids on suspected drug dealers living in the estates around Blackburn.

The series runs for four weeks, until Friday, July 2. The Crimewatch helpline number is 08000 468 999.