A NEW hill could be created at a Pendle country park as part of a £1million project to create six new works of art in East Lancashire.

Four possible designs have been unveiled for a new sculpture which would be sited at the Haworth Road car park in Wycoller Country Park.

One, called 'See me, touch me, love me' involves creating a new hillock which will blend in with the countryside but provide a shelter to take in some of the area's stunning views.

The design is among a shortlist of entries for the Panopticons sculptures project.

Shortlists have been selected for three of the sites. There are five designs which have been short-listed and are on public display.

A panel of judges, headed by Blackburn-bred designer Wayne Hemingway, will meet next month to pick the winners. The other two sites are at The Coppice in Accrington -- where one plan includes creating a Hollywood-style 'Accrington' sign -- and Corporation Park, Blackburn.

Each site has been chosen because it holds stunning views for visitors.

In a brief put forward by Mid Pennine Arts, the group co-ordinating the competition, along with the Royal Institute of British Architects, artists are told to create something which can act as a shelter but is also eye-catching.

It is hoped the project -- funded by the Government-backed Regional Park scheme, set up to attract more visitors to the area through new initiatives -- will encourage more people to use the countryside and have the same economic impact on East Lancashire as the Angel of the North did in the North East.

Other designs for Wycoller Country Park include creating a stone and bronze shelter with several boulders around it which celebrate the atom. Another option is a long pane of tinted green glass which gives visitors a 'fluid perspective of the moving countryside.'

And the fourth is a steel shelter and long wall which will draw people from the car park to the viewing point, and would use renewable energy to keep it warm.

Five designs have been put forward for The Coppice.

Once the first three have been chosen, another competition will run to pick designs for the other three sites. They are Kemple View in the Ribble Valley, Top O'th Slate above Rawtenstall and Crown Point in Burnley.

Four designs have been short-listed for the Corporation Park, all of which use the old battlements as their base. They vary from a walkway which would give visitors various views of Blackburn to a steel construction which would attract visitors at night using lasers.

All the designs can be viewed here...