MICHAEL Portillo, journalist, broadcaster, former politician and current president of the Settle-Carlisle railway line, is to appear in Colne at the Muni Theatre to talk about his life and career.

Mr Portillo, a former minister of state for transport, has said he counts saving the Settle Carlisle line in the late 1980s from closure as his greatest achievement.

He will be at the Muni Theatre on the afternoon of Saturday February 19 with Life: A Game of Two Halves about his life so far, and also to answer questions.

A junior minister under both Margaret Thatcher and John Major, he was once seen as a possible Prime Minister; but he lost his seat in 1997 after which he reinvented himself as a broadcaster, travelling the railways of the world for his television programmes.

The event will take place at 2pm on Saturday, February 19. Tickets are £17.50

Telephone 01282 661234 or visit: www.themuni.co.uk