A BLACKBURN church has cancelled its morning services because of this weekend's East Lancashire derby.

The 9am and 10.30am services at St Bartholomew's Church have been called off because of the 23,000 fans expected at Ewood Park for the Blackburn v Burnley match which kicks off at noon on Sunday.

The church is in the grounds of the stadium and officials from St Bartholomew's said they did not want to increase traffic by holding a service. Curate of St Bartholomew's Dave Dickinson said: "The church is very well attended these days and we don't want to create problems.

"There is going to be a big crowd but the decision was not made through any fear of violence and was not made on police advice."

This is not the first time the church has had to cancel services, although things were better when Rovers were in the Premier League as Sunday games then kicked off at 4pm.

"On a Sunday when there is not a game, the club makes parking available for the church. They are very good with us so we do not make any problems for them," said Mr Dickinson.

Vicar at St Bartholomew's and Blackburn Rovers' chaplain, the Rev Ken Howells does not watch football on a Sunday so he will not be at the game.

The 7pm service goes ahead as normal.