COUNCIL bosses have been accused of damaging the Darwen Town Council referendum after making a mistake over its cost.

In the October edition of Neighbourhood News, which was sent to every house in the town, it says the estimated extra cost to a band A council tax bill is estimated at £7.78.

However, in a leaflet sent out with polling cards for the refurendum on October 16, the figure for a Band A property is given as £9.33 - a difference of £1.55.

The discrepancy has led to a counciilor questioning if people know what they are voting for.

Harry Catherall, deputy chief executive of Blackburn with Darwen Council, apologised for the mistake.

He said: "Any town council needs to raise funds to run services, employ staff and pay for its premises.

“It does this by adding an extra amount - called a precept - to the council tax.

"The £9.33 figure is what we estimate a Band A property would pay if Darwen town council's budget was £100,000 per year and the £7.78 figure is what a disabled Band A householder would pay on the same basis, being entitled to a discount.

"The lower figure was included by mistake and we apologise for the confusion."

But Coun Dave Hollings said: “If people at the council don’t know what the figure is then it’s a worry.

“I don’t know which is the right figure and I’m a councillor. For an ordinary member of the public to have to do that is not on.

“Clear and unambigious information needs to be distributed and that is what the Labour party have been asking for all along.”

Coun Simon Huggill, from the Liberal Democrat group which sits on the ruling coalition, explained how the error came about.

He said: “The newsletter was done about six or seven weeks ago when only the bare bones of the cost were known.

“The leaflets for the polling cards were done later when the returning officer, Graham Burgess has had a clear think about the costs involved.

“But what people don’t realise is that the costs stated are only the setting up costs for each year.

"To allow for any spending to take place, the precept will have to be even higher.”

The town council vote takes place on Thursday.