A TEMPORARY home in the Centenaries Theatre, Stonyhurst College, has been found for the Ribble and Craven Decorative and Fine Arts Society meetings for the duration of the foot and mouth crisis.

Member Edwin Gretton, said the decision by the committee and members to move from their regular meeting place of the village hall, in Bolton-by-Bowland, was a unanimous one taken before the village hall committee decided to close its doors to the public as a matter of course.

"Because our members come from all over the county, they were concerned about the risk of introducing the virus into the rural area which, up to now, remains thankfully free of the disease.

"Because of the action taken, our May meeting was cancelled and our June one will be held in Stonyhurst. We do however, fully intend to return to Bolton-by-Bowland as soon as the crisis is over and hope this will be in time for our next meeting in September after our summer break," Mr Gretton said.

The local group, which is part of the National Decorative Fine Arts Society, currently has around 160 members and organises trips and outings all over the country taking in lectures and visits to stately homes and art galleries. It also organises lectures on a wide variety of subjects connected to fine art.

There are around 50 people on the waiting list to join.