ALL aboard -- next stop's the information superhighway on the mobile cyber-cafe bus set to tour Lancashire.

Lancashire County Council and Blackburn with Darwen Council are joining forces with the BBC to bring the worldwide web to local communities this Autumn.

A bus equipped with the latest technology for surfing the net will visit working men's clubs, church halls, pubs and community centres throughout East Lancashire. Blackburn, Darwen, Burnley, Pendle, Rossendale, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley will each receive 16 one-day visits a year from the bus.

Media specialists will be on board to guide newcomers through the internet in taster one-hour sessions.

And visitors can use their new technology skills to make their own recordings using on-board equipment, to be broadcast on BBC Radio Lancashire's 'Your Voice' programme.

Lancashire County Council plans to buy a computer, printer, scanner and digital camera to loan to community groups so adult education tutors can carry on building skills after the bus has gone.

The new groups will have the chance to develop their own community-based web-sites.

In Blackburn, a drop-in learning centre will be available at BBC Radio Lancashire's offices, Darwen Street.

In a report to Lancashire County Council, Alan Gregory, head of member services, said the project aims to introduce more than 2,000 Lancashire people to the internet every year and will target people in rural areas who have less opportunity to try out new technology.

The council has bid £250,000 to take part in the three-year project, which is one of a series of pilots organised by the BBC taking place throughout Britain.