A COLOURFUL mural has been drawn up to brighten a canal subway in Burnley with the help of young people who live nearby.

Art experts from the Action Factory have teamed up with the Stepping Stones Project to breathe fresh life along a stretch of the Leeds Liverpool Canal running through the Whittlefield area of the town.

The results look set to be a 12-metre long design, capturing the history of the district, in a graffiti-hit subway underneath Pendle Way.

And a cast iron archway will be installed at the junction of Tunnel Street and Ighten Lane, to provide a more welcoming approach to the waterway.

Residents of Whittle Court, a supported housing project for 16-25 year olds provided by Stepping Stones, first came up with the idea and it has been taken up the community interest company Proffitts.

More than 600 homes were asked to take part in a survey and a design competition was held with St Mary Magdalene’s School.

Rachael Gildert, the applicant on behalf of Proffitts, said: “The archway and mural have been designed by Action Factory, community-based artists in Blackburn through their workshops with local people.

“They will will create the mural and the archway will be manufactured by Burnley Metalcraft, which is adjacent to the Stepping Stones Centre and canal.”

Neighbourhood Watch, the Spa Mill Project, borough councillors for Whittlefield with Ightenhill and council officers have also been supportive, as well as the Canal and Rivers Trust.

The £40,000 required for the initiative was provided by the Lancashire Environmental Fund and Awards for All and planning permission is now being sought from the borough council.

Young people from Stepping Stones can also work towards AQA qualifications through planting trees, shrubs and bulbs around the site and creating raised beds at their centre and timber fences nearby.