ANDRE Rebello, coroner for Blackburn, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley, has been chosen to take over as one of only 26 full-time coroners in the country.

He will take up his appointment as coroner for the City of Liverpool in July, but today spoke of his mixed emotions at leaving the part-time post he has held since 1994.

"It is with great sadness that I have offered my resignation," said Mr Rebello, a solicitor, who is a partner in the firm of Fieldings Porter, based in Richmond Terrace, Blackburn.

"I have aspired for many years to become a full-time coroner and I had hoped that with unitary status Blackburn may have been made the lead authority for the whole of East Lancashire, thus creating one full-time jurisdiction. Unfortunately this was not the case.

"My home will remain in this area, where I have lived and worked all my life. I am proud of Blackburn and my full support is behind the long deserved and merited recognition of City status," he added.

Since he took over as coroner for Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley, Mr Rebello has conducted nearly 600 inquests into sudden deaths. He has always adopted a "hands on" approach and frequently visits the sites of road traffic accidents and other incidents to give him a complete picture of the death being investigated.

When he was appointed, aged 37, he was the youngest of 140 full and part-time coroners in the country and, at the age of 41, will be the youngest full-time holder of the office.

One of his main regrets was the closure of the Darwen and Clitheroe magistrates' courts which prevented him holding more inquests in those towns.

As a full-time coroner Mr Rebello will be precluded from working as a solicitor in private practice, where he has specialised in child care law, divorce and family law and mental health law.

"I have been a family solicitor since I qualified and I will be sad to have to give that up," said Mr Rebello, who is married with two children and lives in the Ribble Valley. The post vacated by Mr Rebello will be advertised and a leading contender to take over will be Michael Singleton, currently deputy coroner and a partner in the same law firm as Mr Rebello.

A devout Roman Catholic, Mr Rebello was invested a Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in 1992. He is a former chairman of the Salford Roman Catholic Diocesan Lourdes Hospitalite Committee and a former governor of Oakhill College, Whalley.

He is a governor of St Mary's Sixth Form College, Blackburn, which he attended before going to the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne where he gained an honours degree in Physiology.

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