ROSSENDALE Chartists went back to Victorian times to call for the modernisation of the local authority.

The group handed over a petition of more than 3,500 names to Rossendale and Darwen MP Janet Anderson at Rawtenstall Town Hall.

Members in traditional Victorian clothes were pressing for improvements in council services.

Chairman Alan Johnson, seen handing the petition to the MP, said: "Our Victorian theme underlines the need for the council to modernise and also to celebrate the efforts of our Chartist ancestors in the 1830s."