ONE OF East Lancashire's leading clergymen has hailed the new four-star facilities at Whalley Abbey during a tour of the medieval site yesterday.

The Bishop of Burnley, the Rt Rev John Goddard, and the Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Rev Nicholas Reade, were at the Abbey for a celebration service to mark the completion of its £1.3million restoration programme.

One of East Lancashire's most historic landmarks, the 700-year-old Abbey was closed for eight months last year while Blackburn Diocese, which owns the site, carried out a major refurbishment.

This included upgrading the retreat house and conference centre, which sits next to the Abbey ruins, and the creation of a new dining hall and reception area.

The venue re-opened in September last year and includes bed and breakfast rooms offered at a standard rate in the conference house, which have now been awarded four star status by the tourist board.

Built to attract more business conferences, wedding receptions, and social functions, the Abbey's transformation is designed to attract enough business to pay for the site's running costs.

Blackburn Diocese last year withdrew an annual subsidy to cover the site's costs after agreeing to pump £1million into its redevelopment.

The Rt Rev John Goddard said: "It has now been turned into a top class venue.

"Before this work there was no disabled access and the bedrooms were shared, the whole place was tired. The church decided it was time the Abbey broke into the 21st Century and created a venue that is comfortable and has the most modern facilities.

"As an added bonus, we were aiming to achieve three-star status for our B&B rooms, but we actually got four-star status and were apparently close to five-star standard.

"This is one of our premium sites in Lancashire and we hope it will serve not just the church, but the wider community." The Abbey site is a former Cistercian monastery, dissolved by Henry VIII, and sold to private owners in 1553.

The Abbey house was bought by the Church of England in 1923 and became the diocesan retreat and conference centre when the Diocese of Blackburn was created in 1926.

During last year's work, archaeo-logists found fragments of medieval tile, including ancient pieces of pottery, glass and a wattle and daub partition wall in the east wing.

A service was held yesterday to mark the completion of the restoration.