UNEMPLOYED people need no longer get on a bike to look for work -- Home Secretary Jack Straw has presented them with a bus!

In a move that would leave former Conservative Home Secretary Norman Tebbit speechless, the Employment Service has provided a £30,000 "Jobs Bus" which will tour the town's unemployment blackspots.

The bus -- the first of its kind in the UK -- was unveiled in Blackburn by Mr Straw, who believes it is an excellent development. "People who are without work can get depressed and won't go beyond their own area," he said. "This is a way of giving them encouragement to go back to work."

Blackburn with Darwen is one of 40 areas in the country to be selected for the Government's Action for Jobs Initiative. A specialist team of 11 advisers has been set up to work in communities suffering from high rates of unemployment.

Areas qualifying are: Shadsworth, Bastwell, Audley, Queens Park, Mill Hill, Little Harwood with Whitebirk, Highercroft, Wensley Fold, Shear Brow and Sudell.

Action for Jobs Manager Liz Hoskin said the team had already helped around 200 people find a job. "The bus is a truly fantastic addition to our facilities and we are delighted to have it," she said.

"Not everyone who is unemployed necessarily visits a Jobcentre. We need to get out into the heart of local communities and tackle the issues that are affecting people head on."

The bus takes to the road from April 9 and will visit Mill Hill Community Centre (Monday morning), Green Lane Community Centre (Monday afternoon), Little Harwood Community Centre (Tuesday afternoon), Audley Community Centre (Wednesday morning), Galligreaves Community Centre (Wednesday afternoonpm), Accrington Road Community Centre (Thursday).