A MEMORIAL for those who died in Lancashire road accidents will be unveiled after a service attended by the families of victims.

Lancashire County Council has paid £10,000 for the 4ft stone, inscribed "Always in our thoughts".

It is intended to become a quiet place of remembrance for the family and friends of those who died in road crashes.

Leading clergy, county councillors, mayors, MPs and members of RoadPeace, the national charity for road crash victims, will be at the unveiling in Christ Church Precinct, County Hall, Preston, from 2.30pm on Sunday.

The Bishop of Lancaster, the Rt Rev Stephen Pedley, will lead a non-denominational service of dedication.

Last year there were 66 deaths on Lancashire's roads, with 75 in 2001, and 70 in 2000.

Coun Hazel Harding, leader of the county council, said: "I am sure people will find the dedication service tremendously moving and with 70 people killed on Lancashire's roads each year there are so may people in need of support and more road safety campaigns required." During the ceremony, Alan Foster, a RoadPeace member from Preston whose son died in a road accident, will read a poem entitled Remember.

He said: "I would like to thank the county council for recognising the need for such a memorial.

"My wife and I have found comfort in the knowledge that the county council has made this a priority.

"It will give my wife and I as well as other road crash victims in Lancashire a quiet place in which to remember.