<P> India's boycott of British cotton products devastated Lancashire, and in Blackburn 74 mills closed in under four years . </P> <P> In World War II, the British cotton industry saw an upturn and an increase in workers, with Lancashire mills being tasked with creating parachutes and uniforms for the war . </P> <P> In the 1950s and' 60s, many workers came from the Indian sub-continent and were encouraged to look for work in Lancashire . An increase in the work force allowed mill owners to introduce third (night) shifts . This resurgence in the textile industry did not last long, and by 1958, Britain had become a net importer of cotton cloth . </P> <P> Modernization of the industry was attempted in 1959 with the Cotton Industry Act . </P>

Why did cotton and textile industry become the chief industry in england