A HUGE £2.2million complex, aimed at putting young people on the right track in life, looks set to be built in Blackburn.

The Blackburn Foyer project, which is currently seeking planning permission from Blackburn with Darwen Council, will transform a site in Montague Street next summer if it gets the go-ahead.

And the scheme, which follows a concept started in France in the 1950s, hopes to do the same with young people in the area too.

Backed by a group of partners, which includes the council, St Vincent's Housing Association, Blackburn College, ELTEC, the Blackburn Partnership, Lancashire Careers Service and individuals including a former member of the Chamber of Trade and local company director, the scheme could be up and running by 2001.

The Foyer will aim to help people aged 16 to 24 by providing high-quality, affordable housing with on-site training and support designed to help residents develop a career and the ability to live on their own.

The Blackburn project hopes to provide 34 self-contained flats, eight duplex flats for single parents and a host of training facilities, including a cyber cafe.

Pauline Brown, from St Vincent's Housing Association, said the idea was to combine training, job search facilities, support and housing in one complex.

She said: "The Foyer concept is to provide a holistic approach to training needs and help develop young people to the point where they can live independently. "Anyone who is accepted as a resident is asked to sign an 18-month action plan to enable them to work towards clear goals and achievements."

Young people who may be considered as residents at the Blackburn Foyer would include the homeless, unemployed and those with housing need because they cannot stay at home or where they currently are.

Mrs Brown said: "We're looking at helping young people who do not get support from their families or elsewhere. We want to motivate them by placing them in an environment where they can get themselves together."

There are currently 96 Foyers in the UK including those at Blackpool, Morecambe and Manchester, which opened in 1998.

"Residents in the Manchester Foyer train in all sorts of things, including catering, mechanical engineering and even basic skills like reading, writing or learning to drive," said Mrs Brown.

"The Foyer is a multi-purpose complex which includes commercial businesses and a community that supports each other in everything from getting their first job to moving out."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.