MORE needs to be done to make sure East Lancashire gets its fair slice of the Europe's cash cake.

That was the message from European funding chief Graham Meadows on a whistle stop tour of the area.

Mr Meadows, director of regional policy and cohesion for the UK, France and Germany said he was impressed with the success of local projects involving European support.

"A great deal has already been achieved in this area in terms of accessing funding from European programmes.

"But we need to encourage the people involved at all levels to see it as a way of life to make sure they get the maximum benefit."

Mr Meadows visited TDS House in Blackburn.

And he warned that funds allocated to the North West were under threat of being transferred to other parts of the country if there were not enough viable local projects applying for help. "We don't want to see the North West just lagging behind other areas. We want it to be among the leaders in development."

During his visit to TDS House he took part in a discussion on telematics using a tele-conferencing link with staff from Burnley College and heard about the success of the Blackburn Technology Management Centre.

He later went on to visit the Globe Centre in Accrington which is undergoing a £3.5 million refurbishment being carried out with help from European funds.

"We are pleased that Mr Meadows has been able to visit the development to see the value of the European Community supporting such projects," said Coun Bernard Dawson, chairman of Hyndburn Economic Development Board.

During his visit, Mr Meadows also went to Blackburn Groundwork Centre to hear about the work of the East Lancashire Business Environment Network, the Darwen Access Point and met chief executives of local council and prominent business leaders.

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