A SPECIAL VIP guest was on board for the first ride on Blackburn's big wheel last night.

Caitlin Jones, of Darwen, won a Lancashire Telegraph competition to be on the inaugural ride after being nominated by her mum for her tireless work for cancer charities in memory of her dad Nigel, who died in February 2008.

Within four months of her dad’s death, Caitlin, 13, had raised more than £5,500, even completing the Race for Life on a broken foot.

Caitlin joined other dignitaries including Blackburn Mayor and Mayoress Coun James Hirst and Maureen Pickup at the launch of the big wheel.

She said: “It’s so high, you can see so far. I am really really pleased I was one of the first people to go on it.”

Her mum Tracy said: “I am glad Caitlin was chosen because she does deserve a Christmas treat for herself because she does so much.

“Seeing how your child thinks so much of others makes me so proud and I know that her dad would have had a tear in his eye.”

Caitlin is organising a massive fund-raiser for February to encourage all Blackburn with Darwen schools to wear either shorts or shades and give £1 to East Lancashire Hospice.