TALENTED performers will come under the spotlight next month as they aim to put Pendle on the map at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Pendle Borderline Theatre Company will become one of the few local groups to take part in the arts festival from August 6 to 17.

Two new plays have been specially written for the Fringe by Colne writers Richard MacSween, 50, who teaches English Language and Literature at Nelson and Colne College, and Jan Playfer, 38, who lectures in psychology at the college.

The theatre company, which has a long history of performing traditional and contemporary drama, intends to use the festival to raise awareness of acting in Pendle and to show off the talent produced in the borough.

Bill Handle, secretary of the group, said: "Too often Pendle is seen by people outside the area as parochial and a little bit backward. But there is a rich seam of artistic talent here and we feel demonstrating this at what is the largest international arts festival in the world will show that there is much more to Pendle."

Nine people will go to Edinburgh to perform and work on stage management and lighting, as well as to give out leaflets to publicise the plays. Lesley Eastham, a member and spokesperson for the theatre company, said: "Everyone is really excited about it. We have been up and seen the festival before and it's a really exciting sort of atmosphere all the time.

"It's obviously unknown to us and we don't know if we will get the audiences and reviews but we have done everything we can do to make it a success. We've worked really hard and have been planning this for about three years.

"We want to show that there is more to Pendle than cloth caps and ex-cotton mill towns and raise its profile a bit."

Richard MacSween's play, Inventing Max, will be performed on August 6, 8, 10, 14, 16 and 18 and Jan Playfer's piece, Lie Down Jack Colne, will be presented on August 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 and 17.

Both plays can be seen at 1.10pm at Venue 124, in Kirk O'Field Parish Church.

To find out more about the theatre company, contact Lesley on 01282 870812.