A REVIEW of training needs and requirements in Earby will be carried out following a decision to close a community training centre.

Pendle Council's regeneration unit will co-ordinate the study, which was sparked by a decision by Enterprise plc, the Lancashire-wide jobs creation group, to close Earby Training Centre.

The centre provided hundreds of people with computer training over the four years it operated before its closure at the end of last month.

Stephen Barnes, secretary of private, public and voluntary consortium Pendle Partnership, said: "Both the Partnership and Pendle Council are committed to ensuring the development of a successful economy in Earby and this includes training people to equip them with the necessary skills to find employment.

"The review will establish what the training needs of the community are and then find the best way to meet those needs are.

The council's West Craven area committee will discuss the closure tonight..

"This IT training centre was part of the Earby Go package fought for and obtained by a consortium of local people and a good deal of external funding was brought in to finance it," said Earby councillor Doris Haigh.

"It has done good work for the past four years in training and re-skilling local people for new sorts of work, which is exactly what we need."

The decision to close the centre was blamed on a lack of funding.

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