REGENERATION leaders have hit back after a national study condemned East Lancashire as one of the worst areas in the country for business and jobs.

The report by think-tank Centre for Cities looked at the gap between Britain’s prosperous towns and cities and others that have struggled in the recession, such as Burnley and Blackburn.

It concluded that many of the country’s poorest areas were being left behind by booming places such as Cambridge, Oxford and Reading.

However, critics said East Lancashire was 'getting better'.

The research, entitled Cities Outlook 2010, said 'vulnerable' Burnley and Blackburn suffered because of an over-reliance on manufacturing, which has been battered by the recession.

It said Burnley had shed 3,600 jobs between 2006 and 2008, while Blackburn had the sixth lowest employment rate in Britain with just 66 per cent of working-age residents in a job.

According to the study, average weekly earnings in Burnley have been cut from £373 in 2006 to just £362 last year, and 23 per cent of people in the town have no qualifications at all.

But Burnley Council chief executive Steve Rumbelow said: “This is not news to us but this research has used statistics from the years before the recession.

“It also doesn’t take into account the good things that have happened in the borough recently, such as the new schools, new university and the Burnley Bridge business park.

“It is not all doom and gloom - we have got things in place to change the outlook.”

Mike Damms, chief executive of the East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, added: “This paints a bleak picture of East Lancashire and Burnley in particular, but things are getting better.

“Burnley is not declining as quickly as it was and the area as a whole is a good place to live and work.”

He said East Lancashire’s economy needed to rely less on manufacturing.

Margaret Eaton, chair of the Local Government Association, said: “The fastest way to move from recession to recovery is for more decisions about the economy to be made at a local level, which means councils continuing to work with local people and businesses.”