LANCASHIRE residents will be among the first in the country to be offered controversial new ID cards, the Government has revealed.

From early next year, people across the North West will be allowed to apply for one of the cards, which will cost £30.

New Home Secretary Alan Johnson this week announced ID cards would not be compuls-ory in a move seen as a major government U-turn.

Plans to force some airport workers to carry them were also ditched.

Mr Johnson said: “Holding an identity card should be a personal choice for British citizens – just as it is now to obtain a passport.

"Accordingly, I want the introduction of identity cards for all British citizens to be voluntary.”

But opponents have pointed out anyone signing up for a new passport will still be entered onto the national database.

The North West will be used as a pilot area following the introduction of the ID cards scheme across Greater Manch-ester by the end of the year.

The Home Office hopes young people in particular will sign up so they can prove their age.

As well as the £30 fee, people signing up to the scheme will have to pay to have their biometric details taken.

Mr Johnson, who admitted the scheme would not be the answer to the terrorist threat facing Britain, said: “There will be significant benefits to individuals from holding an identity card, which will become the most convenient, secure and affordable way of asserting identity in everyday life.”

But Lib Dem Home Affairs Spokesman Chris Huhne branded the £5billion scheme “expensive and intrusive”.

Nigel Evans, MP for the Ribble Valley and chairman of the All Party ID Fraud Group, added: “ID cards have been a waste of time and money from the moment of their conception.

"They also pose a great deal of danger to the ID security of British citizens.

“I am pleased on the one hand that ID cards will not be compulsory, but the situation has now turned into somewhat of a farce.

"I am amazed the scheme has not been scrapped in its entirety.”