THE poorest children in East Lancashire could benefit from a £5million slice of Government cash -- if council bids for funding are successful.

Both Lancashire County Council and Blackburn with Darwen Council have been invited to bid for cash to help children whose families are on the breadline.

The money is part of a £450m Children's Fund, available over three years from the Department of Education and Employment to the 40 areas across England with the highest levels of need and disadvantage among children.

Lancashire County Council has been invited to bid for up to £4million -- more than any other authority in the North West -- and is hopeful of securing the lot.

A spokesman said: "We hope we will be able to secure all of the £4million. The Children's Fund links very well with our social inclusion agenda.

"We would like to use the funding to bridge the gap between our Sure Start scheme for very young children in need and our Connexions scheme for older children."

The Sure Start scheme has already helped families across East Lancashire with one-to-one support sessions for single parents, work to reduce teenage pregnancies and help for parents of children with emotional difficulties.

Older children and young people aged over 16 have been helped to tackle problems caused by poverty by the Connexions project.

Launching the initiative, Education Secretary David Blunkett said: "Only by joining up services at local level can we hope to improve the life chances of the most vulnerable children and young people.

"It is vital for the local community, the voluntary sector and statutory agencies to come together to ensure children and young people have the opportunity to succeed in achieving their hopes and dreams."

Blackburn with Darwen Council has been invited to bid for £900,000.

Both local authorities will have to put together bids for funding which will help children aged between five and 13.

The government hopes the cash will be aimed at a variety of projects including peer mentoring schemes where young people can discuss crime, drugs or sexual health issues.

Other possible projects include support for parents, structured out of school activities and befriending, counselling or advice services.

Only last week a study by accountants and business advisers KPMG showed that workers in the North West take home a smaller wage packet than colleagues in the country as a whole.