A BID has been launched to bring up to 5,000 government jobs to East Lancashire.
Phil Watson, chief executive of Blackburn with Darwen Council, is part of a government advisory group which is aiming to bring civil service jobs from London to the North West as part of a drive to spread employment across the country.
Mr Watson and the North West Regional Assembly (NWRA) are working to identify departments which could make the move - and where they would re-locate to.
The leader of the NWRA, Derek Boden, said: "We will argue that our region is a priority area for relocation.
"Many government departments based in London and the South East do not even relate to their part of the country at all, and I can see no reason why these functions should not be the first to move."
The leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, Sir Bill Taylor, added: "The government is looking at taking existing civil service jobs out of the capital and bringing them to the regions.
"They will be considering employee costs, running costs and there is no reason why, with today's technology, jobs should not be brought to East Lancashire."
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