CUTTING-EDGE design will be at the heart of plans to regenerate East Lancashire.

A new team of experts has been set up to oversee the £103million area revamping.

The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) has set up the team - called Design East Lancashire - to make sure new housing projects are at the forefront of modern design when they get under way later this year.

That means the experts will have a major say in how new housing estates will look, and use their knowledge to transform the region.

CABE is investing approximately £400,000 over two years into the new organisation, which will work alongside Elevate East Lancashire, the agency responsible for housing renewal in the region, to ensure that high quality design is an important part of the regeneration projects being planned in Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Pendle, Rossendale and Hyndburn.

Design East Lancashire, which will be based in an office in Colne, will be run as a pilot project and is being co-sponsored by the North West Development Agency (NWDA).

David Carter, Project Director for Design East Lancashire, said: "East Lancashire was once at the heart of the Industrial Revolution and a world centre for cotton textiles.

"The area now faces many inter-related social and economic problems. It is a very exciting time. Better-designed places and spaces are essential for tackling the social, economic and physical challenges faced by the region.

"CABE's aim is to promote the value of high-quality design in the built environment of East Lancashire and ensure that design excellence principles are embedded for the longer term."

Sir Stuart Lipton, chairman of CABE said Design East Lancashire, was the first real test of CABE's power to transform neighbourhoods. He said: "It will be closely watched and will play a key role in shaping CABE's corporate direction in the coming years."

Max Steinberg, chief executive for Elevate East Lancashire, said he was delighted that CABE would be working alongside his team and other agencies involved in the regeneration. He said: "The challenge we face is to create homes and neighbourhoods which respect East Lancashire's cultural heritage but which also meet the needs of 21st century living."

Commissioners from CABE will todaycontinue a two-day tour of the region during which they will be meeting business and council leaders.