THE Furness economy would be hit hard if the proposed 400 job losses went ahead at Ulverston's drug making factory but it would survive, according to the head of the area's development agency.

Chief executive of Furness Enterprise Harry Knowles said if the redundancies went ahead at GlaxoSmithKline more jobs would be lost in Ulverston than in the whole of Cumbria during the foot-and-mouth epidemic.

However, Mr Knowles added that if the company could not be persuaded to reconsider the redundancies, the Furness economy would survive - as long as funding could be secured for the area.

" If we can't get the company's plans reversed we will be able to deal with it, but we are going to need more resources," he told The Westmorland Gazette.

"The financial help we got for Cumbria during and after foot-and-mouth was fantastic and I would hope for more of the same if the redundancies go ahead."

Mr Knowles said he would hope to get support from the North West Development Agency and directly from the Government.

"We would use the resources to work closely with South Lakeland District Council to build more factory and office space for new businesses on Low Mill Business Park, in Ulverston.

We would also continue to help businesses in the Furness area secure grants so they are able to expand, as well as using funding to try to attract new investment in the area."

Town centre manager in Ulverston, Jayne Kendall, said there were numerous projects in the area that would help keep the economy buoyant, including the Market Town's Initiative.

The Countryside Agency launched the project last year to improve the regeneration of the town.

Ulverston was chosen and will soon be bidding for a lion' s share of £8.5 million for projects to improve the area.

Mrs Kendall said: "The economy in south Cumbria is a lot stronger and much more buoyant than it was ten years ago when we had to face the dreadful redundancies at Vickers.

We survived that so I am sure we can pull through this if it was to happen.

"We have got a lot of strong partnerships with various agencies, including the government's North West Development Agency, and we will be urging them to help us by providing a rail and road network to encourage new businesses to come into the area as well as financial help."