Town centre leaders in Blackburn have double reasons to celebrate after a successful summer on the high street and beyond.

Supporters of Blackburn's Business Improvement District say visitor numbers to their patch have leapt year on year.

And this followed the successful return of the Lego trail through the town's main shopping streets, with an Alice in Wonderland themed cavalcade following on from successes in previous years with Paw Patrol and dinosaurs.

A Blackburn BID spokesman said: "(Our area) has seen 6,730,000 visits during the second quarter of 2024, which is 13.1 per cent up on the same quarter for 2023."

Research show that the majority of visitors (41.7 per cent) visit monthly and 26 per cent of the visitors spend up to 15 minutes.

And around 20 per cent spend more than 300 minutes per visit. The average dwell time is said to be 94.9 minutes.

The retail boost has come after the latest Lego trail drew to to a close earlier this week.

'Brickburn' placed characters from Lewis Carroll's famous tale Alice in Wonderland around the town.

Questions linked to each of the intricate models, including Alice, The Mad Hatter, The Queen of Hearts, March Hare and Dormouse, enabled shoppers to enter a prize draw for £150 worth of shopping vouchers.

And adventurers also had the chance to secure their own Mini Mad Hatter Lego model if they followed a letters trail in 13 more spots.

Young and old pitched in to get involved - even Coronation Street star Peter Gunn, alias Brian Packham.

The Blackburn soap star was pictured with the Mad Hatter at the Cancer Research shop in Northgate.

Meanwhile staff at The Works, in the Mall, which hosted the White Rabbit figure, dressed up in Wonderland costumes for the occasion.

A Blackburn BID spokesman added: "Our Lego trail was a huge success. Thanks to all the businesses which took part.

"It was amazing to see the community come together and build something truly special."