HERE'S the the news from Blackburn - not Blackburn, Lancashire, but the latest from a suburb Down Under which shares our town's name.

Blackburn High School, from Melbourne, e-mailed the Citizen with their latest campus news.

They've christened the school football team Blackburn Rovers and the community, part of the City of Whitehorse, has also incorporated part of the borough's coat of arms in their own.

School principal, Dr Ingo Maier, said: "It's great to have contact with the English town from which our suburb and school derive their name."

Blackburn Borough Council spokesman, Bill Haworth, said: "It's news to us that we have a twin town on the other side of the world. We would be delighted to provide them information about the town and make them welcome if they decide to visit Blackburn.

It's very flattering to have a namesake in another continent but I'm not sure how much our towns have in common. I'm sure they enjoy much better weather and don't bother with black pudding on their barbecues!"

The Citizen passed on Blackburn High School's Web site address to Westholme School and the two sites are working on establishing e-mail pen pals.

Teacher Mrs Howarth said: "This makes you realise just how small the world is and how easy it is to contact people anywhere on the planet.

Blackburn High School's web site address is:

http://www.ozemail.com.au/bhs56

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