The town of Barnoldswick will be staging its millennium celebrations on Saturday - two years and nine months late.

But the Lancashire backwater is rejecting accusations that it is behind the times.

A millennium bench was unveiled last week and Saturday will see the official unveiling of the town's millennium stone.

The town is also reversing the trend by holding its bonfire night celebrations two days early.

David Whipp: "We just take our time."

It is perhaps not surprising that the town's major employer is bed manufacturer, Silentnight.

But town councillor David Whipp rejected suggestions that Barnoldswick was a bit sleepy.

He said: "Alright, we may be a couple of years late but we've got a new bench, we've got a new stone and we're thinking about a time capsule.

"It is not a case that we're late at all - we just take our time."

He said that Barnoldswick was, in fact, a "hive of activity" where a number of people worked at the Rolls Royce factory.

He added: "We make jet engines here, for God's sake - the planes would be falling out of the sky if we were slow."

The town's millennium clock was erected in June 2000.

But locals concur that their town has a laid back, timeless quality.

One admitted to the BBC: "They don't move very fast in Barnoldswick."