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Lancashire will see the creation of a new enterprize zone to help those who are losing their jobs at BAE Systems find new employment, George Osborne said yesterday.

The zone will cover BAE’s Warton and Samlesbury sites, and there is another zone also planned for East Yorkshire, the chancellor told the BBC’s Politics Show North West.

BAE is cutting 822 jobs at Warton and 565 at Samlesbury, and firms who wish to set up in the zone will not have to pay business rates.

“We are doing everything we can to create new jobs on those sites”, Osborne told the show.

“We are going to get new companies into those sites, we are going to give jobs to people who have lost their jobs at BAE”.

The Lancashire Liberal Democrats have welcomed the plans. In a post on Councillor Mark Jewell’s blog they said:

“Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Lancashire County Council, Bill Winlow, has welcomed the news that a new enterprise zone will be created to cover BAE’s Warton and Samlesbury sites in Lancashire. The news of a second site at the firms Brough facility in East Yorkshire was also welcomed”.

Photo by Feggy Art on Flickr