TWO areas in East Lancashire have been highlighted as the worst in the country for education.

And Bastwell in Blackburn and Daneshouse in Burnley are in urgent need of more public services for families with children, says research by consumer and market analysis company CACI.

CACI said children's attitudes towards higher education suffer if their parents are unqualified, their homes are overcrowded and incomes are low.

A union today urged the Government to pay out to give children in East Lancashire equal opportunities.

Blackburn with Darwen and Burnley councils vowed the survey would be used to target services, while claiming the situation was already improving.

Both authorities said the areas already benefit from SureStart a Government programme which helps support young families and Elevate, the scheme aimed at renewing run-down housing in the region.

The CACI rankings, which placed Bastwell as worst in the country and Daneshouse second, were based on time parents spent with their children, house size, parents' education, income and the number of dependents.

Daneshouse was found to be the most uneducated part of the country with 58 per cent of parents having no qualifications. In Bastwell, the figure was 56 per cent, the second highest.

Bastwell was found to have the highest number of overcrowded homes in the UK, with 15 per cent of houses having more than one person per room. In Daneshouse the figure was 12.9 per cent, the second highest.

In Bastwell, families were the furthest below the national average income with an average annual salary of £13,900 based on a family of four. And in Daneshouse the annual salary was well below the national average of £22,412 at £15,300.

There were 39.9 per cent children under 16 classed as dependent on their parents in Bastwell and 38.9 per cent in Daneshouse, while the ideal was deemed to be 10 per cent of the population.

And although both areas scored highly in time spent interacting with their children it was not classed as quality educational time'.

Patrick Tate, of CACI, which is based in London and Manchester, said: "In these areas in East Lancashire there is a high ratio of children but with the worst help for them."

Dick Greenfield, Lancashire executive member for teaching union NASUWT said: "Central government needs to give these areas the same opportunities as the rest of the country."

Coun Dave Hollings), Blackburn with Darwen education chief, said: "Many older Asian heritage people in Bastwell have not had access to get qualifications which is why we support lifelong learning and are investing heavily in the education of the young."