A poor quality transport network and limited access to the latest technology are among the challenges facing the local business community, according to the area's MP.

Speaking at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors North West conference, Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Collins set the scene by looking at business in the region and the rest of the UK.

"Many of our roads and railways and transport links are showing their age at the moment," he told delegates, who met at Kendal's Castle Green Hotel.

"Those who have coped with the worst of the West Coast Main Line will know the quality of our infrastructure in the North West is a significant challenge to us.

It is nothing like as good as it needs to be if we are going to compete with the needs and capabilities of the rest of the UK, Europe and the world."

Mr Collins, who is also shadow secretary of state for transport, said consideration should be given to "taking a leaf out of our international competitors' book and looking at the possibility of building wholly new infrastructure".

Regular "patching and mending" of networks such as the West Coast Mainline was "terribly expensive" but not necessarily successful, he said.

Mr Collins said the region had also been

slower to embrace the Internet age than much of Europe, "especially Broadband accessibility".

"Locally we have a major issue with BT who are saying some exchanges are too small or too rural to be wired up to Broadband."