CLITHEROE has been named as one of Britain's boom towns.

Unemployment figures have plummeted by 70 per cent since the end of the recession six years ago - one of the highest drops in the country.

In the North West only Keswick and Windermere in the Lake District registered bigger falls in their jobless totals.

And Clitheroe's unemployment rate of 1.2 per cent is now the eighth lowest unemployment rate in the country. Nearly all the other parts of the country with such low rates are in the south. Keith Fairclough, of Clitheroe Job Centre, said that the area's unemployment level had always been low.

"We have a small population but with a number of large employers including Ultraframe, Castle Cement and ICI," he explained.

"We also have quite a lot of people employed in the tourism industry here. And Clitheroe serves as a catchment area for people working in places like Blackburn and Skipton.

"And of course the team at Clitheroe Job Centre do a very good job!"

The figures, compiled by the GMB union, also show that Burnley has registered a drop of 57 per cent in the number of claimants, Accrington and Rossendale 55 per cent, Blackburn 50 per cent and Pendle 42 per cent.

Blackburn and Pendle share the highest unemployment rates (4.9 per cent) in East Lancashire followed by Burnley (3.9) and Accrington and Rossendale (3.4).

Elsewhere in Lancashire Preston saw a fall of 61 per cent, Blackpool 56 per cent and Lancaster and Morecambe 45 per cent.

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