HOUSEHOLDERS across East Lancs will benefit from a £300,000 cash boost as part of a project to encourage them to become more energy efficient.

The Energy Savings Trust is giving £150,000 to 13 councils. The total is expected to double after contributions from the councils themselves and the private sector. The money will be used to provide free specialist advice on energy-saving measures.

Householders will also be able to have free home energy inspections and assessments by experts to show them how to cut their bills.

They will also be able to claim discounts of up to 25 per cent on products such as loft and cavity wall insulation, draught proofing, double glazing and more efficient heating systems.

Pendle, Burnley, Ribble Valley, Rossendale, Hyndburn and Blackburn with Darwen councils joined with other local authorities and private sector partners to bid for the Millenergy Project cash .

Pendle Council leader Alan Davies said: "Each one of us must start taking some responsibility for our own and future generations by being conscious of energy conservation.

"It is all too easy to assume that one individual's efforts amount to very little but that it quite wrong.

"For example, if a street of 100 homes decided on an energy conservation programme, not only would their combined wallets benefit to the tune of £20,000 but within one year there would be an approximate saving of enough electricity to supply an old people's home for a year!"

The Lancashire consortium fought off fierce competition from local authorities all over the UK to win the funds.

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