BURNLEY MP Gordon Birtwistle has appealed for more apprenticeship schemes to help boost towns 'left to rot by the previous Government'.

The new Lib Dem MP urged ministers to back the town by giving it a fair share of new apprenticeships under a national scheme.

Steve Webb, minister for work and pensions, has said that areas such as Burnley will be in line to benefit from the schemes.

Speaking in Parliament, Mr Birtwistle said: “My constituents in Burnley suffer more deprivation than most, with areas of high unemployment left to rot by the previous Government.

“Will the minister ensure that the department managing the apprenticeships scheme looks into areas such as Burnley to ensure that they are given a fair chance of providing apprentices for the future?”

The town has received a boost recently, with an advanced manufacturing research centre, as part of the new Burnley College campus in Princess Way, which hopes to build on East Lancashire’s aerospace and industrial links.

And the former Michelin factory site at Heasandford now hosts an advanced manufacturing centre, in partnership with the Northwest Development Agency.

Mr Webb said: “My honourable friend makes a powerful point.

“Part of the reason why he is here in this house, apart from his highly effective campaigning, is the record left by the Labour Government in Burnley and similar constituencies.

“The new apprenticeships will indeed go to areas such as my honourable friends constituency, where they will provide training that leads to lasting jobs, which are what we want to be provided.”