LANCASHIRE author Ron Freethy is so passionate about his dialect he is waging a war to stop it being lost forever.

And he has a message for the doubters who think local twang is a thing of the past: "Ye shud be reet prahd."

Ron, who is also a broadcaster and Lancashire Evening Telegraph's Nature Watch columnist, said the unmistakable tone of the Lancashire accent was constantly under threat.

And he has written a book to remind people just how great it is.

Lankie Twang, which has a foreword from Morecambe Lass and actress Thora Hird, includes the history of the way Lancastrians speak, dialect poetry plus a 'dickshunary' of local words and sayings and their meanings.

Such as laik -- which means to play -- or gobbin -- basically meaning someone who is in idiot, which is still popular in Accrington. Ron, who was born in Cumbria when it was North Lancashire, said: "The Lancashire dialect still exists but is not as strong as it used to be and we must fight tooth and nail to make sure we never lose it.

"I love the accent and the the dialect. I'm sure there are words in the book which I have missed and I would love people to get in touch if I have. It's always flattering to be told the book is nice but I want to know the things I've missed. That way it keeps evolving." Ron identified two sworn enemies to the Lancashire dialect -- political correctness and "snobbishness." With the increased advent of the PC culture, Ron said people are scared to speak use their normal vocabulary. Ron said: "You have to be so careful at times because people can easily take offence.

"And snobbishness is another enemy because of the perception of the Lancashire accent.

"If you take some with an Oxbridge accent and someone with a Lancashire accent people will tend to think the Oxbridge person is more intelligent."

Ron is a defender of his faith and has personal experience of the battle to keep the twang.

In the early 60s he headed off to London and to university where his accent met with wide-spread disapproval.

He said: "It was presumed I had come straight from looking after the pigs and was even told to go for elocution lessons.

"I never went and I'm proud of how I speak."

Lankie Twang is out on November 7, priced £6.95, from all good bookshops.