Up to 200 jobs could be created with the opening of a new state-of-the-art training centre in Hyndburn.

Electricity North West said it will recruit up to 200 new engineers over the next few years.

The centre will also help to develop a new generation of workers by taking on apprentices, A-Level entrants and graduates.

The company, which owns and maintains the north west’s electricity network, have submitted plans to Hyndburn council to build the new centre at its Whitebirk depot.

It’s another jobs boost for the area and follows last week’s announcement that 300 new BT call centre jobs will be created at the Globe Centre in Accrington.

Hyndburn council leader Miles Parkinson said the jobs will help boost the area and reduce youth unemployment.

“Jobs are the most important thing. The only way the borough can move forward is job creation for the residents,” he said.

“It’s very important when you have major companies like Electricity North West and BT investing in the borough.

“It’s also very important when there’s apprentices because the unemployment rates from school leaving age to 25 are very high. It will give them opportunities.”

The proposed training centre will house workshops and classrooms, around five acres of outdoor training facilities, 40 car parking spaces and landscaping.

Paul Taylor, HR director for Electricity North West, said the centre will help create the ‘engineers of the future’.

He said: “Operating the north west’s electricity network for more than five million people is a big job, and we need to make sure that we have the best people coming through to help keep the lights on over the coming decades.

“We’ll be making sure that our network and workforce are fully equipped to meet the challenges of the future.”

Electricity North West’s current training facilities are spread across a number of areas in Lancashire including Hoscar.

The company said there is a ‘pressing need’ to relocate the facilities into a single base and added that Whitebirk was its top choice after considering a number of other sites in Lancashire.

If approved, around 12 teaching staff would be based at the centre and it would be used by up to 90 students each day.

Planning bosses will consider the application later in the year.