Yorkshire's near neighbours in East Lancashire must also benefit from devolution drive - Yorkshire Post Letters

From: Raymond Bracewell, Roundell Drive, West Marton, Skipton.

Yorkshire's near neighbours in East Lancashire - including West Craven, once part of God's own county - must also benefit from the Chancellor's drive to close the gap with London (‘Putting power in Yorkshire's hands’, August 8).

Extending the Airedale Line by just 12 miles from Skipton to Colne would boost rail connectivity across the North.

It would quickly and cost effectively create valuable opportunities for education, work and leisure for communities on either side of the border.

The beneficiaries would include some of the country's most deprived, such as Pendle.

The North is much more than its major cities with elected mayors. Isolated, long-overlooked former mill towns, such as Brierfield, Nelson, Colne, Barnoldswick and Earby, also deserve their fair share of available investment.