REGENERATION leaders will launch their hunt for a developer to build a new 4,000-job business park next month.

A private sector partner is wanted to turn greenfield land on the Rishton and Blackburn border in Whitebirk, next to junction six of the M65, into a £5million industrial zone set to boost East Lancashire’s economy.

The hunt comes as details are revealed of how the sprawling high-tech business park will look when it is completed, possibly in 2016.

The 80-acre site will include 270,000 sq ft ‘knowledge park’, made up of digital, IT and science-based businesses, and 225,000 sq ft of space for engineering firms.

It will have 65,000 sq ft of general industrial space and 100,000 sq ft for warehouses and distribution units.

The huge business park will also have a ‘neighbourhood centre’ made up of cafes and shops so the thousands of workers do not need to leave the site.

Blackburn with Darwen Council chief executive Graham Burgess, who is part of the Regenerate Pennine Lancashire board in charge of the scheme, said: “The knowledge zone will be made up of advanced manufacturing, IT and digital industries which will provide us with high-value jobs.

“They are more sustainable and are better in the long run for the region and Pennine Lancashire’s economy.

“The neighbourhood centre will ensure there are shops and cafes for the workers too.”

Since plans for the business park were first revealed earlier this year, the £50million Pennine Reach bus lane scheme, linking Blackburn with Darwen and Accrington, has been approved by the Government.

Mr Burgess said the transport project was vital for the Whitebirk business park, which could be started in summer 2011.

He added: “Pennine Reach is not just a bus lane. It will link up three towns and it will allow people without cars to get to the site.”