TWO members of an East Lancashire-based Kung Fu club have been honoured at a prestigious martial arts ceremony.

Instructors Ray Heeks and Andy Crosbie attended the Black Belt International Martial Arts Awards and seminars which were held at the Palms Hotel in Essex.

Ray, from the Darwen School of Kung Fu in Darwen, received an award for dedication and development of martial arts in the UK while Andy - from the club's Blackburn branch school Hou Long Kung Fu - was named Instructor of the year and also picked up his second degree Black Belt in Brithai.

The awards ceremony was made all the more special as Shaolin Monk Shi Yan Ming, the star of the recent Jet Lee film Unleased, presented the awards and Scott Adkins, a martial artist himself, who has also starred in Holby City and Mutant X.

The pair also collected awards for their student awards which will be presenting at tje club's annual awards ceremony at Sudellside Community Centre in Darwen.

He added: "As Instructors in the local community we are proud to have been presented awards for our work in the community and are conscious that every child we have in our classes is another child that is off the streets.

"It is a reward for their hard work and not getting into trouble or mixed up in drug or substance abuse which leads to children growing and learning with confidence in their abilities with the option of gaining qualifications in sports leadership."

He added: "We are very quick to hear of the bad things that children and gangs in our local areas do.

"But we are extremely proud that we have around 120 children in the Blackburn and Darwen area that strive towards excellence and support their community in every sense of the word and are a credit to their parents,their schools, community and themselves."

For more information, courses or details of schools classes, contact Ray Meeks 07906 093137 or log onto www.darwenkungfu.co.uk