WITAMY w krainie czarownic, as the Polish might say about East Lancashire – ‘the land of the witches’.

Foreign tourists are now being encouraged to visit the area as part of a new marketing drive by VisitBritain.

The organisation has started to list details of attractions in a variety of languages.

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And the ‘Land of the Witches of Pendle’ – made famous by the 1612 trial that led to the hanging of 10 women – is included in its Haunted Places guide.

In Portuguese it’s listed as coisas que gemem de noite, or things that groan in the night, in Italian it’s I luoghi piu infestati da fantasmi, the greatest places haunted by ghosts, while the French are offered Les Pennines du Lancashire, est dominée par la masse lugubre de Pendle Hill, rather dismissing the beautiful wild moors as a ‘gloomy mass’.

The move comes as the government also launched a drive to encourage overseas holidaymakers to travel outside of London.

Tom Pridmore, a tourism and events officer in Ribble Valley said: “We are delighted with the government drive to encourage overseas visitors to discover areas out of London, and feel well placed to be able to offer fantastic and authentic British experiences, not least with our outstanding food offers and stunning our countryside.

“We have already recognised this potential by offering translations into four languages and have plans to introduce more.

“While most foreign speaking visitors are now likely to use a technological device or software to translate language, we firmly believe that by offering language options on our website and in print we send out a positive message to would be visitors, making them feel confident about their visit."

A ministerial taskforce, headed by Culture Secretary John Whittingdale, is being set up to drive changes to move tourism away from London.