TWO East Lancashire teenagers featuring on the front cover of the novel Burnley Boys have been reunited following an appeal in the Lancashire Telegraph.

Richard Garth-Jones and Andy Wych were photographed in the summer of 1976, aged 13 and wearing Burnley FC scarves.

The picture was taken with them sitting on the front garden wall of Andy's mum's house in Higherford.

The pair, now 43, were good friends as teenagers but lost touch when Richard's parents moved away from the area.

But the author, Peter Fyles, who now lives in Sweden, was inundated with emails and phone calls after he appealed to find the pair in the Telegraph.

Richard and Andy this week returned to Higherford - Andy's mum still lives at the same house - to have their photographs taken sitting on the same wall 30 years on.

Peter said: "I was good friends with Richard at school at St Theodore's but I didn't know Andy at all.

"The picture was perfect for the front cover of Burnley Boys. I am grateful for your readers for tracking them down for me.

"I am hoping to meet up with them in the New Year as soon as I can get over for another game."

Both men now live in Burnley. Richard is co executive director of Groundwork East Lancs while Andy is a welding and fabrications lecturer at Burnley College.

Richard said: "It was great to see Andy again.

"We were both neighbours and fanatical Burnley supporters. We followed them home and away. I remember the picture being taken. I think Andy's mum took it.

"Even though it was the height of summer, we still wore our scarves."

Burnley Boys is a novel about a young boy, Frank Heaney, whose life is moulded by football, his mates, the Roman Catholic Church, his mum and dad, and later, girls.

Frank and his gang are all fanatical Burnley supporters.

It is set mainly in the Duke Bar area of Burnley.

The book is now available from Badger Books in Keirby Walk, Burnley, the Turf Moor store and online at eBay.