ONLY two per cent of Lancashire’s ex-servicemen have received their Veterans ID Cards to help them access health, housing and charity services according to Labour Party research.

Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey revealed the figures from analysis of Ministry of Defence statistics on a visit to Burnley.

He accused it of 'failing veterans in Lancashire' during a visit to the award-winning veteran’s charity Healthier Heroes, which supports veterans across Burnley and Hyndburn.

Mr Healey met Burnley Labour Parliamentary Candidate Oliver Ryan.

Official figures show that ministers have rolled out less than 900 ID cards to the 38,000 veterans in Lancashire in the last four years.

Ministers promised to provide every veteran across the UK with a card in 2019, which would help veterans access health, housing and charity services.

In Burnley just 44 veterans ID cards have been rolled out to 2,424 veterans - 1.8 per cent of the total.

In Hyndburn jus 45 cards have been rolled out to 2,036 veterans (2.2 per cent); in Pendle 32 to 2,078 (1.5 per cent); in Ribble Valley 28 to 1,608 (1.7 per cent); in Rossendale 40 to 1,782 ( 2.2 per cent) and in Blackburn 67 to 2,714 (2.5 per cent).

Ministers have promised to rollout all remaining ID cards by the summer. Analysis conducted by the Labour Party showed that at the current rate of delivery, it will take more than a century for the MOD to rollout ID cards to the 1.8 million veterans in England and Wales.

Mr Healey said: “The defence secretary Ben Wallace likes to talk up his support for our forces, but he is failing veterans in Lancashire.

"The veterans ID card is supposed to help our society keep its promise with those who serve by ensuring quick access to services like healthcare. But Conservative ministers have delivered just a fraction of the cards needed."

Mr Ryan said: "Healthier Heroes is an outstanding facility which does life changing work supporting veterans and the armed forces community, Every town should have somewhere like this."