MP Andrew Stephenson has spoken out against Boundary Commission proposals to split up the Pendle borough.

At a Boundary Commission public hearing in Preston, Mr Stephenson said that while he supported reducing the number of MPs he was strongly against breaking up Pendle.

The initial proposals would see the Pendle constituency split between two different seats – a new Ribble Valley constituency and a seat called Burnley North and Nelson.

He said: “Most people expected a couple of wards to be added to the Borough of Pendle and were very concerned when the initial proposals suggested breaking it up.

Mr Stephenson said the proposals did not reflect the community ties of West Craven residents.

“The overwhelming majority of residents living in the Earby, Coates and Craven wards who I have spoken to prefer to be kept with Pendle, rather than being put in with Ribble Valley.

“This view is strongly backed by a majority of councillors in the area and is also backed by the independent members on Earby Town Council.

“If the area cannot be returned to Yorkshire, as I know some living in the West Craven area would like, surely it makes sense for them to remain in a Pendle-based constituency, where they have been since 1983.”

Mr Stephenson said that a long-standing Barnoldswick Liberal Democrat councillor, David Whipp, “hit the nail on the head” with his recent comments on the issue.

Coun Whipp said: “From a community perspective, putting Barnoldswick and West Craven in with Bamber Bridge is bonkers. The differences between central Lancashire and historic Yorkshire would make the proposals completely unworkable. It would be impossible to represent the area properly.”

To keep Pendle together, Mr Stephenson suggested two options.

“We could either add two (or more) wards from strongly Conservative Ribble Valley, an attractive prospect for me electorally, or add two wards from Burnley, a seat the Conservatives have never won.

“Given my vested interest in these boundary changes as a Conservative you would naturally assume that I would prefer to add two wards from Ribble Valley, however I don’t. So we can only look south, to Burnley.

“I therefore would like to formally add my support to amending the Boundary Commission proposals in East Lancashire to create a Pendle and Burnley Rural seat.”