A TECHNOLOGY corridor that could regenerate Worcestershire's economy has been given a £22m boost by the Government.

The Birmingham to Worcestershire Technology Corridor is one of three high-tech clusters in the West Midlands which will create new skills and jobs in the aftermath of the job losses at Rover at Longbridge.

Patricia Hewitt, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, announced the release of £22m this week.

The corridor is centred around Birmingham and Aston Universities in the north and Malvern Hills Science Park and QinetiQ in the south, loosely following the A38 in-between.

Worcestershire County Council and Malvern Hills District Council are working closely with Advantage West Midlands to attract projects to the corridor, which will focus on nanotechnology, medical science and emerging technologies from QinetiQ.

The £22m is part of a £65m package allocated after the Rover crisis to try and stop the region being so dependent on the automotive industry.

"A tremendous amount of intellectual capacity exists within the Corridor, which will have a significant impact upon business and the local economy as a whole," said county councillor Alwyn Davies, portfolio holder for economic development and regeneration.

"It's important to realise this will not happen overnight. The development of the Birmingham-Worcestershire Technology Corridor is a long-term project and forms part of a 20-year strategy."

At the Malvern end of the corridor, Advantage West Midlands will now try to get money from the Rover Task Force fund to allow the Malvern Hills Science Park to continue to develop new high-tech companies.

"While the changes at Rover haven't been as great a blow to the regional economy as had at first been feared, it was a wake-up to us all," said Alex Stephenson, chairman of Advantage West Midlands. "The three strands of activity - modernisation and diversification of the regional economy and the development of high-technology corridors are firmly embedded in the West Midlands Agenda for action."