BURNLEY was hoping for big things from a group of people who paid a visit to the town.

They were members of the North West Development Agency social inclusion sub group who will decide later this year how a Single Regeneration Budget of more than £200 million is shared.

Among the group was Burnley's Coun Kath Reade, public sector representative on the agency.

The group visited a number of projects already funded through Burnley's Challenge Fund.

They were also given the lowdown on one trail-blazing scheme in Burnley.

They heard of the successes of the Dutch Dordrecht Initiative, under which a joint operation focuses on leading criminals and attempts to wean them away from their lives of crime.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.