A MOTORBIKE company boss today slammed the lack of help he had received in East Lancashire -- as he announced a £4million expansion in Merseyside.

CCM Motorcycles, which was established in 1971 and is backed by four times World Superbike champion Carl Fogarty and his wife Michaela, has been desperate to increase capacity in its premises in Whitebirk Industrial Estate, Shadsworth, as sales have grown over the past four years.

But managing director Peter Swift said it has been like "pulling teeth" trying to secure investment and expand their business in East Lancashire.

The company, which employs 50 workers, has instead secured millions of pounds worth of investment and grants through venture capitalists in Merseyside who, he said, have enthusiastically helped the firm expand in their region.

Mr Swift said there has been no such willingness from public bodies in East Lancashire to help them expand here. Today Blackburn with Darwen Council's regeneration chief admitted the region is simply unable to compete with the scale of European and Government grants available to businesses in Merseyside.

Venture capital firm the Merseyside Special Investment Fund is ploughing £1.5million into the business -- on the condition the firm locates its new development within Merseyside.

The rest of the £4million is being made up by investors Aberdeen Murray Johnstone and the North West Development Agency.

But Mr Swift said there has been a lack of help from Blackburn with Darwen Council to allow the company to access European funds. He also lamented the lack of an equivalent venture capital firm in the region for companies in a similar position to his.

Mr Swift said: "I cannot answer why the council has not supported us. There has been a general lack of access to grant funding. Blackburn is not an assisted area. For us, since March 2002 it has been like pulling teeth trying to secure investment here.

"The funding we have now raised secures all the jobs. But there is no such equivalent venture capitalist company in Blackburn."

In four years the company has gone from producing 100 motorbikes a year to projected figures of producing 5,000 by the end of 2004. The new development, the location of which has not been decided, will create 30 to 40 new jobs. Some jobs in Blackburn will be shifted to the new site but no jobs will be lost.

Councillor Andy Kay, executive member for regeneration, said: "A number of council business support officers and partner agencies have worked with CCM over the last four years. Unfortunately, we can't compete with the level of European and government funding available in Merseyside. However, we would be keen to assist the company in maintaining a presence in the borough at whatever level."