The neighbouring districts are Pendle, Burnley, Hyndburn, Blackburn with Darwen, South Ribble, Preston, Wyre, Lancaster and North Yorkshire.

[3] The new district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.

[4] The Bowland Rural District had been in the West Riding of Yorkshire prior to the reforms, whereas the other parts had all been in Lancashire.

The project was not supported by the Borough Council, which caused controversy in the area, and local newspaper theClitheroe Advertiser and Times' held a poll which returned the result that 94% agreed that the Ribble Valley Borough Council were wrong not to fund the project and assist its long-term success.

MP Nigel Evans was a staunch supporter and tabled an Early Day Motion at Parliament EDM 979[26] calling for "better resources and funding" for Ribble Valley Radio and the new and emerging sector.

[27] A new group, known as Ribble FM,[28] was formed in 2011 with the aim of applying for a community radio licence in the third round of licensing by Ofcom.

Ribble FM was set up by The Bee founder Roy Martin and includes local directors and trustees.

The economy of Ribble Valley is mainly rural in nature, with a high proportion of jobs being in the private sector, due to BAE there is a bigger sway towards manufacturing jobs and less of a service economy when compared to the rest of Lancashire presumably due to the size of the authority and the dispersed nature of settlements.