BLACKBURN with Darwen Council is pushing its bid to bring civil service jobs to East Lancashire.

According to report by council leader Sir Bill Taylor the Government has identified 27,000 jobs that could be shifted from London and the South East.

The move is part of a push to improve the delivery of public services and improve the efficiency of Government departments. A review of jobs to be re-located has recently been completed and 102 towns, including Blackburn, were assessed for their ability to cope with the extra jobs.

Coun Taylor said: "We believe we are ideally placed to play a key part in this, owing to our reputation as a successful, well managed local authority. The council will put forward strong recommendations to encourage a relocation of civil service jobs to Blackburn with Darwen."