A SURVEY into the housing needs of the Ribble Valley has been given a kickstart by a good public response.

Five thousand people throughout nine zones in the Ribble Valley were given questionnaires and the council have been delighted by the response rate of more than 3,000 returned forms.

David Morris, the council's director of development, said: "Thanks to the co-operation of the people in Ribble Valley, we will shortly have some very detailed information on housing requirements in the area which will enable the council to better target resources to those areas in most housing need. "I would personally like to thank everybody who contributed to the success of the survey. A response rate of 58 per cent is exceptional - the more returns, the more accurate the result."

Market Research UK, the company selected to carry out the survey, have been analysing the questionnaires and the results from the follow-up survey involving 500 in-depth interviews.

A draft report has been completed and the final detailed report will be available shortly.

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