AN internet enthusiast is transporting Blackburn and Darwen's Roman Catholic churches into cyberspace.

Web master Damian Brown, of Carlton Gardens, Shear Brow, wants to encourage more people to attend church services in East Lancashire by publishing his own website.

Damian, 36, is a member of Christ the King and St Anthony's RC Church, Shadsworth. He is also a self-taught web designer who runs his own internet consultancy.

He said: "I think people are losing interest in Christianity because they feel church is outdated. Masses are dwindling and congregations have decreased.

"I think what frightens people away most is that they have to go to confession face-to-face with a priest before they can attend church."

He is aiming to create a page a day for each of the borough's Roman Catholic churches, which are governed by Salford Diocese.

He is hoping the site will also feature a personal message from the priest of each church to their prospective internet congregations to calm their fears about attending church for the first time or returning back to the fold.

Damian said his late father, John, once suggested to him that young people could be attracted to the Catholic charitable club, the Knights of St Columba, through modern media, especially websites.

So his church website is a development of that original idea.

He said: "The site will have 50 pages in total and will take many hours to build. I am going to take photographs of the buildings with my digital camera and also include information about the history of the churches as well as memories of time I have spent visiting some of them."

Damian said his aim is to help other people find faith in God. "I am doing this not just for my own sake and pleasure, as long as people know what parish they are in and which church is near to them they might give it a go. If I can convince one person to go into church after visiting my site I will be happy," he added.

He said early discussions with local priests were promising, although not all clergy had computers at home.

As well as Damian's own church those featured in the site are: Holy Souls, Whalley New Road; Sacred Heart, Preston New Road; St Alban's, Larkhill; Good Shepherd, Northfield Road; St Anne's, France Street; The Good Shepherd, Shear Bank Road; St Joseph's, Audley Range; St Teresa of the Child Jesus, Bentley Street, Intack; St John Vianney, Livesey Branch Road; St Peter in Chains, Jessel Street, Mill Hill, all Blackburn; and Sacred Heart and St Edward, Blackburn Road; and St Joseph's, Bolton Road, both Darwen.

But it is not just Roman Catholic churches which are in need of support. Damian's idea comes after a survey published last month on behalf of the Church of England highlighted that Blackburn's Diocese has lost 3,000 Anglican worshippers from weekly church services.

The site is currently under construction but can be viewed at: www.phpexpert.org/churches.