THE brains behind an £18million tourist attraction planned for East Lancashire has moved to the area in a bid to get the project off the drawing board.

Jan Smithies, managing director of The Spice! Project, and her team have been provided with office accommodation at the Lancashire Economic Partnership in Accrington to begin work on a £35,000 feasibility study.

And Ms Smithies said an outline planning application could be submitted in as little as six months.

The Evening Telegraph reported in May how the company plans to put Spice! herbs and visitor centre in Blackburn and land off the M65 at Guide has already been identified as a prime site.

The cultural education and tourism project will be based around the use of herbs and spices through history, including in cooking, cosmetics and herbal medicines.

And the ambitious plans for the project, which include a 5,000sq metre glass-fronted hall featuring restaurants, shops and a conference and wedding venue, received another boost this week.

A number of key partners have agreed to participate in the project.

Officials at Cornwall's renowned Eden Project have agreed to be partners and the Royal Horticultural Society has also expressed an interest in having an educational establishment on site.

The Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew and the British Food Trust have also joined the Spice! 'steering committee' and talks are also continuing with the Prince of Wales Foundation for Integrated Health who are considering having a "medicinal use of spices" attraction.

Dennis Taylor, chairman of the Lancashire Economic Partnership, said: "Things are really moving on this now and Spice! is starting to capture the imagination of all the organisations involved.

"The partnership and Blackburn with Darwen Council have made £35,000 available for a feasibility study and talks are continuing with the North West Development Agency to see if they can help with site acquisition."

Ms Smithies, said: "We continue to look at a number of sites in Blackburn and what we aim to do within this first six months is select the right site and have a plan in place which means we can start going for the funding.

"We want to put in an outline planning application pretty soon and that should be in around six months time."