PARTS of East Lancashire will be hit harder than they think by the recession, according to a new report.

Blackburn - along with other large towns and cities -has been placed on “red” alert because of the number of people who were unemployed or have no qualifications.

According to the Centre for Cities charity report, Burnley is on “amber” because it had strengths such as a skilled population and diverse industries but also weaknesses including exposure to vulnerable financial services.

Some cities on “green”, mainly in the South East, were said to be better placed to recover more quickly from the effects of the recession.

The report showed that out of 64 of the biggest towns and cities in Britain, Blackburn was ranked 62nd for deprivation and Burnley 52nd.

On economic prosperity, Burnley was ranked 59th and Blackburn 56th.

However, there was some good news with Blackburn and Burnley said to be two of the most affordable places to live in the country while Blackburn had the fourth highest employment growth.

Blackburn Council leader Colin Rigby claimed East Lancashire had been doing better economically than other boroughs across the country.

He said: “Pennine Lancashire is not suffering as badly as the rest of the country because of our diverse industry and the fact we have lower wages.

“We have got to continue improving our education and improving GCSE results.”

Burnley MP Kitty Ussher spoke of an optimistic future for the town.

She said: “We are working tirelessly to attract more jobs to the borough, new and improved housing and the new university campus is being built which is due to open in April.”