BURNLEY’S trade chief has declared that the town is ahead of others on the road to recovery.

Chamber of trade president Brian Hobbs said traders had assured him Burnley was coping well despite inflation, job losses and squeezes on spending.

He said: “While the business environment remains both tough and challenging, I can report that here in Burnley things are looking decidedly more positive than in our region generally.

“If we can stay focused on the fact that actually we are doing rather well it will fortify our efforts to come out of current economic condi-tions one step ahead of our competitors.”