RIBBLE Valley has been identified as the joint most skilled place in Britain with the city of London.

A new survey of the qualifications of skills of the national workforce has identified the two local authorities as the top of the tree. Both have just five per cent of the working population without formal educational qualifications.

This compares with much of South Wales, where the figure is more than 30 per cent, or in the case of Blaenau Gwent, 40 per cent.

The news, in a report on the knowledge economy by research consultants Local Futures, has delighted Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans.

The Tory vice chairman said: "It's a testimony not just to the skilled of the local people but to the hard work of the schools in the Ribble Valley.

"We have excellent schools, not just a royal grammar school, but others such as Ribblesdale, which is a technology college and is over-subscribed.

"It means that we are the best in the country equal to the very heart of the capital, London.

"This is great news for the Ribble Valley and I shall be in touch with the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Stephen Byers, to ask him to come and visit the area. "We need to see what lessons can be learned for the benefit of other areas in Britain. We need to spread the success of the Ribble Valley.

"This shows this is not just a beautiful place, but is also one of the best qualified and skilled in Britain. I am delighted."

The report -- entitled 'Regeneration and Renewal' draws on various indicators to assess different areas' ability to take advantage of the new, computerised knowledge economy. It discovered that the highest wages went to employees in areas containing high-tech industries.

It warns that in some areas there are so many unqualified people that they were totally unprepared for the new age.

Warning of a 'cancer' in many parts of Britain, the report demanded government action to tackle the national skills crisis.