It was Burnley's third successive defeat and they have now conceded 12 goals in their last three games.
Preston dominated the first half but Burnley came back strongly after the break.
Preston's man-of-the-match - the Jamaican international Ricardo Fuller - was thedifference between the two sides - and he scored a brace of goals to seal the points forPreston.
In the third minute Fuller made it 1-0 when an Eddie Lewis cross from the left was hitright-footed into the net from ten yards.
Colin Murdock was booked after seven minutes, his sixth yellow card of the season, for afoul on Ian Moore and in the ninth minute Ian Cox went off injured holding his knee andTony Grant came on for him.
It was Grant who was booked after 12 minutes for a foul on Erik Skora.
Burnley equalised in the 51st minute when Steve Davis' cross was headed home byGareth Taylor - his fifth goal of the season.
Paul McKenna made it 2-1 in the 62nd minute when he slid home Fuller's cross from closerange.
The third goal came in the 65th minute and it was Fuller again whose shot was deflectedinto the net by Arthur Gnohere after a Lewis pass.
Burnley substituted Lee Briscoe with Alan Moore in the 68th minute and Ian Moore wasreplaced by Dimitri Papadopoulos in eight minutes later.
Mark Rankine came on with ten minutes to go with Skora holding his right arm and withtwo minutes left Lewis was replaced by Marlon Broomes.
The fourth official signalled four extra minutes and Fuller left the pitch to a standingovation when substituted by David Healy