NEW figures show that East Lancashire is losing out on National Lottery cash to support the arts and culture.

While the average grant in 2015 and 2016 across the UK’s 659 Parliamentary constituencies is £13.10p per head, all six of the areas seats received less than £5.

East Lancashire politicians have expressed disappointment at the figures and called on lottery bosses to ensure the money invested locally in the national ‘flutter’ is reflected in arts grants to their area.

While Leeds Central and the Cities of London and Westminster received more £500 per person, the most successful local constituency is Burnley at £4.04p per head, 267th in the list.

Blackburn comes in at £3.34p (298th), Ribble Valley £2.30 (369th), Pendle £1.85p (409th), Hyndburn£1.26p (474th) and Rossendale and Darwen 54 pence (563rd).

The figures, produced by The National Campaign for the Arts, totals lottery grants for cultural activities awarded in 2015 and 2016 combined to specific constituencies and divides them by the number of voters in each.

Cllr Mark Townsend, leader of Burnley council, said: “My initial reaction is one of disappointment.

“Residents of Burnley and East Lancashire contribute a lot to the National Lottery and deserve to get their fair share of arts funding.

“I fear people in London just treat the area as a cultural backwater that can be ignored..”

Cllr Peter Britcliffe, Mayor of Hyndburn, said: “This is just not good enough and needs to be put this right.

“People in Hyndburn and East Lancashire play the lottery a lot and they deserve their fair share of arts funding from it in return.”

Cllr Phil Riley, deputy leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “Traditionally East Lancashire residents put a lot into the lottery but seem to get less than their fair share back.

“We have recently received a £1million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards the redevelopment of Northgate which includes a facelift for King George’s Hall.”

Cllr Joe Cooney, Tory group leader on Pendle council, said: “We have a thriving arts scheme in the borough but we deserve a better return in cultural grants from the lottery.”

Chorley received 49 pence per head and came in at 570th out of the 659 constituencies in the UK.