EAST Lancashire's history is set to be brought alive on the internet thanks to a £115,000 grant.
The money, from the Heritage Lottery Fund, will pay for more than 12,300 catalogue pages from the Lancashire Record Office to be created digitally.
An additional 43,700 will also be added from another 24 archive sections throughout the North West. The office holds a vast amount of the county's historical documents and is based close to County Hall, Preston.
Files from the East Lancashire area include information on Howard and Bullough, the textile machinery manufacturers of Accrington and the William Birtwistle Mills Group of Blackburn and Darwen. Work to convert the information to digital format will begin in June.
The project, which has the backing of the North West Museums Libraries and Archives Council, is the second of its kind to be undertaken by the North West Region Archive Consortium.
The aim is to eventually have every report from every record office available on the internet.
County Councillor Marcus Johnstone, cabinet member for communication, information and lifelong learning, said: "As historians all over the world will be able to access the internet site Lancashire will be placed on the world map.
"I'm delighted that Lancashire Record Office is pioneering such an innovative project."
The Access to Archives (A2A) website can be visited at www.a2a.pro.gov.uk
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