FILLING up a cup or kettle with water is easy for most people but what if your sight is impaired?

How would you know if you had left a light on or know what temperature to set the cooker to?

These are questions many people do not know the answer to unless they live with, or look after somebody, with a disability.

But solutions to these problems will all be available under one roof when the Independent Living Centre opens officially at the end of this month, providing a one-stop shop for gadgets and contraptions designed to make life easier for the 28,000 people in Blackburn with Darwen living with disabilities.

The centre, based in Mill Hill Bridge Street, Blackburn, is funded by Blackburn with Darwen social services and the Primary Care Trust, which oversees the work of GPs, and is the first of its kind in the country.

The centre, set up with £250,000 of local authority and PCT money, houses a sensory room, with talking kettles and clocks, a working kitchen complete with colour-coded utensils and easy access, a bathroom with bath lifts and ramps, and a disability information service providing a full range of help and advice.

Currently, disabled people have to visit a number of places throughout the borough or county to get all the support they need and this is what the Independent Living Centre will change, with patients being referred there by doctors or carers.

Sheila Latham, project officer at the centre, said: "There is nothing exactly like this in the country and it is unique because it is run in association with the local authority. People can come here and see things they may not know about which really would make their life easier.

"The facilities we have here we do not have anywhere else and so we have been contacted by district nurses who want to come and train on the facilities. Blackburn with Darwen, of course, is an independent authority and that is why we are able to operate in this way.

"We will be working together with a lot of voluntary agencies, too, who will come and look at what we have to offer, so it is really exciting."

According to the 2001 census 20.3 per cent of people in Blackburn with Darwen have a 'limiting long term illness' -- above the national average of 18.2 per cent. This includes anyone who has a had a health problem or disability which has limited their daily activities or work they can do, including problems due to old age.

Maureen Almond, a member of the East Lancashire ME/CFS support group, a group that help people who suffer with ME and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, said: "Something like this is very helpful to people with disabilities in this area. They don't have to go rushing around everywhere to get the support they need."

The Independent Living Centre can be contacted on 01254 269269.