BEACONS illuminated the skies above East Lancashire last night and lit the blue touchpaper for a huge countryside march.

Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans lit the biggest beacon in the region at the old Roman look-out post above Mellor.

It was backed by a second beacon on the top of Pendle Hill.

Both were part of a chain running from Scotland to London.

The beacons marked the build-up to a mass march which will be staged by the Countryside Alliance in London next Sunday.

Up to 500,000 protesters, including hundreds from East Lancashire, are expected to converge on Westminster to complain about a perceived decline in rural life and a proposed hunting ban.

Christine Dickinson, of St Mary's Gardens, Mellor, one of the organisers of the Mellor beacon-lighting, said: "Hundreds of countryside people concerned about the rural way of life turned up, as well as lots of Mellor villagers. This wasn't just about hunting; it was about keeping the countryside as a living, working environment."

Nigel Evans MP said today: "I was proud to be asked to light the Countryside Alliance beacon in Mellor in aid of the Liberty and Livelihood campaign.

"This historic beacon lighting aimed to demonstrate from the very heart of the countryside that people's rights and ways of life should not be casually tampered with."