DARWEN town councillors have ‘buried the hatchet’ and agreed to work together to bring a heritage centre to Darwen.

As reported in the Lancashire Telegraph last month, Liberal Democrat councillors refused to take part in last month’s meeting after details of the proposed centre were leaked to the press before being discussed at the council.

Labour councillor Brian Taylor, who represents Sunnyhurst, had started looking into the possibility of opening a heritage centre in the town, potentially with the council buying the former HSBC bank in The Circus.

Despite some angry exchanges in the town hall on Tuesday, a private meeting was held after the public debate and an agreement was reached between the two parties to work together to make it happen.

During the meeting, Liberal Democrat councillor John East said: “As a councillor I feel very disappointed with the way things are going.

“We are supposed to work for the people of Darwen but we have got it the wrong way round.

“We need to make sure we are paying the rate payers’ money on the right things.

“I am very disappointed with the way some councillors tried to push this through without it being discussed.

Town council mayor and Labour member Eileen Entwistle said: “It was an idea that any of us could have had and looked into before it was brought to the meeting.”

Coun Simon Huggill, also a Liberal Democrat, said: “I would like to put a motion forward that we bury the hatchet now and work together on it.”

During the public forum, Darwen resident Dave Horsfield slammed the actions of the councillors.

He said: “I would like to say, on behalf of the people of Darwen, how disappointed I was with the Liberal Democrats walking out.

“On the other side of that it is disappointing to see councillors squabbling when they should be working together for the good of the town.”