AN East Lancashire education authority is celebrating after winning two regional awards for promoting adult learning -- one of which involved taking laptops into pubs.

Two unique projects run by Blackburn with Darwen Council beat off stiff competition to come top in the providing local learning and new approaches to learning categories at this year's Learning Northwest success and excellence awards.

Learning Northwest is a regional organisation committed to helping the North West's education and business communities engage adult learners in creative and innovative ways.

The Licensed To Learn project encourages Blackburn and Darwen adults who left school in the 1960s and 70s to log on and get hooked on information communication technology for the first time.

Council staff took laptop computers into local pubs and clubs across Blackburn and Darwen to introduce people to IT in an informal setting.

They claim the scheme has enjoyed phenomenal success, helping hundreds of people who would otherwise not got hooked on the internet.

Fare To Learning offers the borough's taxi drivers free tuition in a variety of subjects ranging from self-defence to languages, literacy and numeracy.

The project started with a learning dinner arranged after drivers claimed they felt vulnerable following a spate of attacks.

More than a third of the borough's 600 cabbies became 'learner drivers' for the night and were taught various techniques and skills for defending themselves if they were to be attacked.

The scheme tailored its courses and learning opportunities to suit the individual needs and circumstances of the drivers and tuition is delivered at the taxi depots.

The awards were presented by House of Commons select committee member David Chaytor MP at a ceremony in Manchester on Friday.

He said: "This is innovation in learning at its very best and the rest of the country has a lot to learn from it"

Learning Northwest's director Jill Berry said: "Over 80 organisations from across the North West entered for the success awards.

"These awards celebrate the very best innovation in adult learning throughout the region, and we have been delighted with the high quality of all the entries we received this year".

Coun Dorothy Walsh, Blackburn Council's lead member for lifelong learning, said: "I am delighted with this achievement. This is one of the proudest days of my life."