A NEW branch of the Alzheimers Society will be launched at Blackburn Town Hall.

And organisers are hoping the new group will fill a void in the local level of understanding and knowledge of the disease traditionally associated with old age.

The new branch will cover Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley and will involve professionals, carers and sufferers from the disease.

Pauline Teague, a staff nurse at the elderly mentally ill department at Queen's Park Hospital, said the branch would have an educational role as well as offering support and up-to-date information for anyone in any way connected with Alzheimers.

" As we learn more and more about Alzeimers we need a way to communicate that information to the people who need it," said Pauline.

"The disease has always been associated with very elderly people, but more and more people in their 40s and 50s are now being affected and the disease is touching an awful lot of people.

"Three new drugs have recently been approved for prescription and that is the kind of information that carers will be desperate to receive and have explained to them."

The official launch takes place in the Council Chamber on Friday, February 23, starting at 1.30pm. Guests will include the mayors of Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble valley, and Lord Taylor of Blackburn. The guest speaker will be a director of the Alzheimers Society.