BURNLEY MP Gordon Birtwistle, has welcomed new GDP figures showing that the economy grew by 0.8 per cent in the last quarter.

The Liberal Democrat says the improved state of the economy proves that the austerity policies adopted by the coalition government are beginning to work.

Mr Birtwistle said: “Fixing the economy was always going to take time, but these figures are further evidence that the Coalition’s plan is working.

“The Liberal Democrats are building a stronger economy and a fairer society, enabling everyone to get on in life. Getting growth going and creating jobs is at the heart of that.

“Across the country we have helped businesses create a million jobs. Here in Burnley we saw last month’s jobless figures fall below the levels of May 2010 and schemes like the new Burnley Bridge industrial park will help bring more jobs to Burnley.”