ROYAL fever looks set to hit Accrington when Prince Andrew comes to town next month.

The Duke of York will be visiting Bradshawgate House, the head office of the North Lancs Training Group, on Friday 5 March.

He will meet NLTG staff and directors from member companies before officially opening the refurbished premises in Oak Street.

Prince Andrew is the chairman of the trustees of the Outward Bound Trust, an organisation with which the NLTG has been involved for 25 years.

The company became a founder member of the Outward Bound Patrons Company eight years ago and along with other organisations donates £10,000 a year in support of young people benefiting from attending Outward Bound courses.

NLTG was set up in Accrington in 1969 with just one employee. It now employs 140 people at premises in Accrington and Preston.

The company is a major work-based learning provider of modern apprenticeships and has more than 2,000 young people on its NVQ programmes.