A REPRIEVE for the 160 jobs that were to have been lost at Blackburn's town centre telephone exchange is splendid news.

The relief expressed by the operators who work there will be echoed across East Lancashire.

The area has experienced a roller coaster ride on the jobs front in recent months.

A grim early summer brought the loss of 550 positions at Leoni Wiring in Accrington and the announcement that Airtours was to relocate outside East Lancashire.

But in July, 60 of the Leoni jobs were saved and earlier this month came the announcement that a bulging order book at Rolls-Royce's Barnoldswick plants would save up to 30 jobs.

The best news of all was the cash injection of more than £55million Single Regeneration Budget money for projects in East Lancashire. The doom and gloom merchants would have us believe that East Lancashire faces an uphill struggle to retain jobs.

But developments like the U-turn by British Telecom bosses over Blackburn telephone exchange show that there is still plenty of confidence in the area.

Their original decision was not a reflection on East Lancashire's workforce. It was part of a nationwide reorganisation, which was changed.

Vibrant business parks point to a healthy future for the area.

Announcements of job losses are always dramatic and send out shock waves.

The steady growth which is taking place in many sections of East Lancashire business and industry rarely attracts a fanfare of trumpets.

But, make no mistake, it is going on and there is a quiet confidence that can be detected at all levels.

Even in the manufacturing section, struggling to come to terms with problems thrown up by the strength of the pound, there is a gutsy determination to hang in there until the situation improves -- as it surely must.

That spirit has seen East Lancashire through some pretty grim times since the Second World War. It will not desert us.