A SHOWDOWN will take place today as campaigners from Burnley and Pendle battle it out over the location of an £18million specialist college.

Training 2000 will use Government money to create the University Technical College (UTC) in East Lancashire after seeing a bid for funding approved earlier this week.

However, bosses at the organisation must now decide where to locate the specialist engineering and construction college, which will cater for local 14 to 19-year-olds.

Council bosses in Burnley want the UTC to be created within the Weavers’ Triangle development, while Pendle counterparts favour the seven-acre Brierfield Mills site.

Each group will this afternoon present its case to Training 2000 bosses ahead of a decision being made later this year.

Some of the area’s largest employers will join forces with Training 2000 to draw up a curriculum, combining core academic subjects with technical studies and work placements.

Coun Charlie Briggs, leader of Burnley Council, said the local authority-owned Weavers’ Triangle site would be ideal.

He said: “It supports our strategy of developing a reputation as the centre of excellence for manufacturing skills development.”

Brierfield Mills, which is owned by Birmingham-based charity Islamic Help, would have to be bought for an estimated cost of more than £1million.

But Brierfield Coun Naeem Ashraf said the UTC was vital in breathing new life into the town.

“It will be great for the whole community because it will bring jobs and put Brierfield back on the map,” he said.

“We need this in Brierfield more than ever and we will be fighting tooth and nail to get it.”

Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson said: “I have always viewed Brierfield Mills as the best place to locate the UTC, which would be a centre of engineering and manufacturing excellence.

“The multi-million pound funding attached to this project would be enough to bring that landmark building back to life and provide young people with a fantastic learning experience.

Brian Cookson, Pendle Council’s regeneration director, said there was a ‘level playing field’ ahead of the bids being submitted.