HYNDBURN MP Greg Pope has lined up meetings with government ministers and education chiefs to push for a university facility in East Lancashire.

Earlier this year, Mr Pope began a campaign for a research and development facility for the area in response to the crisis of manufacturing and has received backing from all East Lancashire MPs.

But he is now scheduled to meet with government ministers, local college principals and the vice-chancellor of the University of Central Lancashire, Dr Malcolm McVicar.

Mr Pope said: "East Lancashire is the size of Manchester and deserves its own university.

"I want to see an institution which provides top-class research facilities for students not just from here, but all over.

"This won't happen overnight but we must keep pushing for it."

Mr Pope, who is Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers' government whip, said that East Lancashire is heavily dependent on low paid manufacturing jobs which are very vulnerable. He added that with a population of 500,000 people, East Lancashire must be one of the largest areas in the country without a university. He is looking to persuade one of the north west's ten universities to site a research and development facility in the area, which could be built that up to a full scale university .

Mr Pope received immediate backing from his Labour colleagues Gordon Prentice, Peter Pike and Home Secretary and Blackburn MP Jack Straw as well as Rossendale MP Janet Anderson and Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans.

Pendle MP Mr Prentice has already held talks with Dr McVicar and is now in touch with government ministers to see how the plans can be taken forward.

The move follows ideas put forward in the 2020 conference at Ewood Park in Blackburn earlier this year. They wanted to see a new university, an Olympic size swimming pool and improved public transport links.

This "forum of the future" launched a campaign to build on East Lancashire's uniqueness and its excellent quality of life.