A YOUNG weaver has vowed to keep the tradition alive after winning her industry's equivalent of an Oscar.

Zara Clarke, 27, an assistant designer with Herbert Parkinson at Harvest Mill, Westwell Street, Darwen, was named Young Designer of the Year 2003 by the Worshipful Company of Weavers, picking up a £1,000 cheque.

The hands-on designer also runs a cottage industry from her home in Darwen town centre, where she creates silk scarves using traditional weaving techniques.

The Chelsea College of Art graduate's work has been in the spotlight before, when she won a commission to create 30ft long woven banners to decorate St Paul's Cathedral during the millennium celebrations.

She also took part in a two-year project organised by the North West Arts Board which involved the creation of Jacquard silks using traditional methods at the Silk Museum in Macclesfield.

Nowadays Zara, originally from Ilkley, creates designs for fashion accessories, cushions, curtains and throws for supply to the John Lewis Partnership. Away from the mill she also designs work for galleries and exhibitions.

Zara said: "I have enjoyed creating a lot of different work during my training and since I graduated.

"I like to think that some of my work involves keeping the traditional skills going, as they are quite rare now.

"I get the best of both worlds as my work at home uses the very basic traditional methods and in industry I get the chance to combine this with modern technology and new initiatives."

Zara's award makes a double coup for Herbert Parkinson, founded in 1934, which also employs last year's Young Weaver of the Year, Simon Pickering.

The Worshipful Company of Weavers, founded in 1130, organises the awards from its textile education fund, aimed at encouraging people training for and working in the textile industry.

Clerk John Snowdon said: "As the industry gets smaller we believe these awards get more important."