BOSSES and council leaders are calling for Lincolnshire to sever its ties with the East Midlands and join forces with Rutland and the south Humber region in a bid to boost economic prosperity.

The Federation of Small Businesses and the Chamber of Commerce wants to see an allegiance formed including Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire.

They want the three counties to form a Local Enterprise Partnership which would set local economic priorities and work to encourage investment and bolster employment in the area.

LEPs are being established to replace England's nine regional development agencies, including the East Midlands Development Agency.

EMDA's role was to distribute Government cash through the region, which covered Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire.

LEPs will take on some of the RDAs' responsibilities but they will have to compete for cash from the Government's new £1-billion Regional Growth Fund. They will not be grant funded.

Letters were sent to local authorities and businesses inviting them to develop LEPs. They have until September 6 to submit bids to the Government detailing which councils will be involved in their partnerships.

Business leaders in Lincolnshire say the county has lost out from being teamed up with the rest of the East Midlands.

The FSB, which represents more than 6,000 small businesses in its Lincolnshire region, has written to the leaders and chief executives of the three councils calling for them to consider the change.

David Dexter, Federation of Small Businesses Lincolnshire Region chairman, said: "Lincolnshire has been very much the 'poor relation' of Derby, Leicester and Nottingham as far as the East Midlands Development Agency was concerned.

"We have never shared common interests or industries with these areas and tend to look north towards the River Humber.

"Throughout this area, we share a similar industrial base of farming, food processing, tourism and light engineering.

"A strong LEP comprising the county of Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire, Rutland, plus, perhaps, Newark and Peterborough would really give this area the opportunity to prosper."

The county's Chamber of Commerce is co-ordinating local businesses' responses to the LEP consultation.

Chief executive Simon Beardsley said he was due to meet county council officers today to agree a joint responses to government.

"The Chamber is looking to work with other business organisations and public sector partners, inside and adjacent to the county, to make sure we jointly agree a position that is best for the businesses and the economy the proposed LEP will serve," he said.

"We do have to bear in mind, however, that while we may want an all-encompassing LEP, our colleagues in other places are currently looking at the possibility of other partnerships."

At the time of going to press it was understood the Peterborough area local authority was keen to form an alliance with the rest of Cambridgeshire.

Meanwhile, the Echo's sister paper, the Grimsby Telegraph, has reported calls from Humber businesses for an alliance with Hull and wider Yorkshire.

Leader of Lincolnshire County Council Martin Hill said he agreed that an all-inclusive Lincolnshire and Rutland LEP would be best for the county.

"It makes sense. There is a great deal of synergy between the areas, particularly in industries such as food production and tourism," he said. "We are meeting with North and North East later this week to discuss it further."