A new Coroner's jurisdiction has officially begun in Lancashire, covering Blackburn with Darwen and parts of Lancashire.

The Coroner areas of Preston and West Lancashire, East Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen formally merged on Friday, 1 December.

Known as Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen, the new jurisdiction will be led by Dr James Adeley as the Senior Coroner and supported by Mr Richard Taylor and Mr James Newman as Area Coroners.

The merger follows a formal consultation period by the Ministry of Justice during August and September this year, and will see the jurisdiction dealing with approximately 4,500 deaths per year.

Dr Adeley, Senior Coroner, said: "The amalgamation of three significant Coroner's jurisdiction's provides substantial opportunities to improve the service to bereaved families including the introduction of CT post-mortem examinations rather than traditional autopsies and quicker production of necessary documentation by digital systems, whilst continuing to deliver the service to people locally.

"The larger size of the jurisdiction will also allow the majority of Lancashire to be considerably better prepared to deal with larger incidents.

"The challenges in delivering such change should not be underestimated, and has been achieved largely as a result of the helpful approach from Blackburn with Darwen Council and Lancashire County Council."

Councillor Phil Riley, Deputy Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “This new system is a real partnership between all the areas involved and the ultimate focus is always on providing the best, most appropriate service to people who are bereaved and going through this process.”