COUNTY hall boss Jenny Mein is urging Blackburn with Darwen and other East Lancashire councils to share services as she tackles a cash gap which has grown by £30 million.

Earlier this month she and finance chief David Borrow warned the giant authority faced cutting services by £300 million by March 2018.

Yesterday they told the Lancashire Telegraph the latest Whitehall announcements meant the savings target had risen to £330 million over their four-year budget strategy period.

The spending reductions equal more than one-third of the annual budget of Lancashire County Council — which provides key services in Burnley, Hyndburn, Pen-dle, Rossendale, Ribble Valley and Chorley boroughs.

Coun Mein, who has now been leader at county hall for two months, said: “This is a huge challenge but one we have to meet.

“We need to make even bigger savings than we expected and we need to do more collectively with the district councils, including the all-purpose authorities in Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool, to save money on administration to spend on services.

“We will be looking at what we can do in co-operation with the NHS and the fire and police to save money and pool back-office functions.”

Burnley borough council leader Julie Cooper said: “I am already talking to other district council leaders in East Lancashire about what we can do co-operatively to save money on administration. I am happy to talk with Jenny and the county about this vital issue.

Deputy leader Coun Borrow, who is working with senior county off-icials on a package of options for a savings summit in October, said: “There are key areas where we can work with the districts and the NHS locally to improve serv-ices and save money, such as care for the elderly in their own homes and supporting families with teenagers and young adults with disabilities.

“Another possible area is creating a central plan-ning function hosted in one authority providing expertise for all Lancashire’s councils.

“We are also looking at reducing our number of office buildings to save money — especially in Preston. It’s about reducing unnecessary costs to protect front-line services to those who need them.”