THE EARL and Countess of Wessex are to meet patients at the East Lancashire Hospice when they visit Blackburn to officially open the new building.

The hospice has provided care to patients with advanced and progressive life threatening diseases along with support for their relatives and carers since the early 1980s.

It recently underwent a £2.2million refurbishment and reopened last January with a new day therapy centre.

Edward and Sophie will officially open the newly extended and refurbished building on Thursday March 13.

The Royal couple will be taken on a tour of the new facilities and look in on the in patients at the Park Lee Road site.

They will also unveil a plaque commemorating their visit and the official opening before signing the visitors book.

Geoffrey Braithwaite, chairman of the hospice, said: "This visit is wonderful news for our hospice and everyone is very excited.

"Our new building is something we are very proud of and are delighted that the Earl and Countess are coming to open it. It is also a tribute to all those people in Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and the Ribble valley who helped us to raise the money to build it.

"I know that everyone will give the royal couple a very warm Lancashire welcome."

The East Lancashire Hospice is the main specialist palliative care unit in Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley. It serves a population of around 520,000 and costs £350,000 a year to run.