EAST Lancashire business people gathered to hear Hyndburn MP Graham Jones talk at an event in Blackburn.

The event was organised by Downtown Business at Ewood Park and attended by local businesses, higher education providers and local entrepreneurs.

And the Labour MP said: “Following a brief introduction about how my grandmother ran her own business whilst my grandad worked for the same company all his life, I fielded questions from the audience.

“We spoke about HS2, local transport infrastructure, the importance of education and training, addressing the imbalance of UK Plc towards the south east and how we in East Lancashire can be ahead of the curve in competing.