A BURNLEY church leader has returned from a mission to the poorest area on Earth to help drag it out of its war-ravaged poverty.

Superintendent Minister of Burnley Methodist Circuit, the Rev Keith Richardson, jetted out to Sierra Leone as part of a 16-strong team to build a skills and training centre.

The 63-year-old was part of a task force from the North Lancashire Methodist Circuit who travelled to the province of Kailahun in the east of the country.

The group, who had to raise £12,000 before leaving, spent three weeks in the country, which was gripped by a civil war for more than a decade.

Mr Richardson said after landing in the capital Freetown it took 15 hours to travel 300 miles in a ramshackle minibus.

He added: "For 12 years there were no schools and no education so now people have no skills.

"There is virtually no money available there so we had to raise the money before we went.

"The skills centre will teach carpentry, simple electrical work and women can learn tailoring."

The group, which included people from Nelson, Barley and Whalley as well as members from Earby and Longridge, arrived to find the foundations had not been completed, meaning they were not be able to finish the centre.

But Mr Richardson said he was confident the job would be completed and the group could return to the country one day.

He added: "The economy is poor. Bricklayers were earning £1.20 a day and the labourers 80p. Many of these people have been refugees.

"They are living in sheds. There's no running water.

"Sierra Leone is the poorest country in the world and this is the poorest region of the poorest country."