A CALL has been made for a Bolton delegation to go to London to plea for help to create jobs.

Council chiefs have written to Regions Regeneration and Planning Minister Richard Caborn calling for the town to retain its assisted area status.

But Tory deputy leader Cllr John Walsh wants an all-party group of councillors and MPs, along with business and community leaders, to go down to the capital and demand a meeting.

Assisted area status entitles Bolton to grants which can attract new firms to the town.

Bolton has been entitled to this because parts were considered areas of depravation, but fears are growing that the town could be a victim of its recent success and lose the status.

But nearly 1,000 jobs have been lost in Bolton in 1999 already.

And Cllr Walsh said at a town hall economic development sub committee meeting yesterday that a delegation should go and meet the Minister.

He said: "The last time assisted area status was in jeopardy in the mid 1980s, a delegation of about 15 people went to see the Minister."

The recent job losses announced would have "an enormous impact on the local economy".

"We need to get that message across and we need to press hard to keep the assisted area status."

Vice chairman Labour Cllr John Byrne said a meeting had already been requested with the Minister.

Praise

Steve Burns, the council's head of economic development, said that despite the recent redundancies, there are jobs being created at Middlebrook and The Valley.

He also praised the BEN's Millennium Jobs Challenge for helping people find work.

"It is not all gloom and doom," he said. "There are jobs in the pipeline and unemployment in the town is still at a lower level than we have enjoyed for many years.

"But it is very, very important that we retain the assisted area status."

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