Big-hearted young bookworms have raised more than £700 for charity by taking part in a national readathon. All year seven pupils at Burscough Priory High School on Trevor Road, Burscough, took part. Pictured: Burscough Priory High English teacher Sara McClymont presents the cheque to head Roger Leighton, with some of the pupils who buried their noses in books for the charities concerned

Female basketball players from Blackpool were celebrating after beating off rivals in a North West college tournament. Blackpool Sixth Form College were the victors in the North West Ladies College Basketball Tournament, at Preston’s West View Leisure Centre, after beating South Trafford College 15-10 in the finals. Pictured: Jeremy Mannino and his successful Blackpool Sixth Form College basketball team

A touch of fantasy is being used by a landlord to advertise his high street pub and boost takings. Brian Eaton of the Swan Hotel on Poulton Street, Kirkham, is pulling in the punters by claiming to have had a visit from a pop legend. He has put up an unusual sign outside his pub claiming: “Elvis caught eating Shergar butties in Swan cellar.”

Young artists from a Lancashire school have been invited to display their work in a university exhibition. Preston’s University of Central Lancashire has invited talented pupils from Carr Hill High School in Kirkham to put on a display, sponsored by Midland Bank. From left, Carr Hill students Claire Fieldhouse, Daniel Maddock, Nathan Holtappel, Carolyn Baker and Claire Devaney, with Midland Bank area manager Chris Hurley