THE case for help for East Lancashire's manufacturing industry has been taken to the top.

A high ranking delegation met with the minister responsible for assisted area status to put their argument forward for the area to secure millions of pounds worth of help.

The Government is currently reviewing the assisted areas scheme which enables companies in deprived parts of the country to apply for special grants.

Assisted area status currently covers 33 per cent the population - including Blackburn - but the figure is being reduced to 28 per cent.

But council leaders, MPs and industrialists believe it should also be extended to other parts of East Lancashire.

A delegation led by Hyndburn MP Greg Pope and Pendle MP Gordon Prentice and including representatives from economic development departments and Richard Hope of Silentnight Holdings met with DTI parliamentary under secretary of state Michael Wills

"We basically stressed to him that although East Lancashire does not have the high unemployment levels of other areas it is deprived in other ways such as poor housing and public health standards," explained Mr Pope.

"And we pointed out that East Lancashire is a far more cohesive area than it was several years ago and that with our existing industrial base we could put the money to very good use," explained Mr Pope.

The campaign to secure assisted area status is being staged against a backdrop of major job losses in East Lancashire's manufacturing industry over the past year. Blackburn has had assisted area status for many years and it has helped create hundreds of new jobs in the borough.

As well as putting its own case for its status to be renewed, Blackburn has joined forces with other authorities in East Lancashire to lobby for the whole area under a banner of 'Manufacturing Matters'.

In Blackburn, council chiefs believe the loss of assisted area status would be a severe blow to the local economy. Many local employers have successfully applied for hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of funds for relocation or expansion plans.

For example, the recent decision by Rectella to relocate to Blackburn, bringing 500 jobs, was partly helped by grants under the scheme.

Council chiefs believe that there are a number of factors which make East Lancashire need more help including:

Decline of manufacturing industry

Low pay rates

Lower rates of new business start-ups than other parts of the country

High unemployment among 16 to 24 year-olds.

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