ANYONE who has visited Blackburn town centre over the past decade will have noticed how much Blackburn College has developed.

State-of-the-art buildings have sprung up to give the town a real further and higher education quarter and the student population has increased accordingly.

But in the past couple of years there has been worry that the further education sector was suffering financially because of a change in direction by the government which ultimately has control of the purse strings.

Evening and day classes enjoyed by many retired people, for example, in centres elsewhere in the borough, have been cut and this has caused upset.

But as we see in the plans unveiled today, the college under principal Ian Clinton has ambitious plans for the future.

In four separate phases, up to £35 million could be spent transforming it into a world-class campus within four years.

Of course the cash has to be secured before this vision can become reality.

But East Lancashire is one of the last areas of its size in Britain without a university or similar-sized student campus.

Premier league learning facilities are vital for our growing under-18 population.

These youngsters are our future and we must press hard to ensure they get the best education possible within the region.