AN MP has demanded answers over a jobs fiasco which resulted in 100 Nelson workers losing their jobs - only five weeks after securing them amid great fanfare.

Pendle’s Gordon Prentice has quizzed Education Minister Jim Knight over the education maintenance allowance, which was being administered from offices at the Number One Market Street complex in Nelson.

The sudden withdrawal of the temporary EMA positions, after they were announced in mid-September, has caused a political storm in the borough.

Mr Prentice says the decision, while thousands of students are still waiting for their allowances to be paid, is “baffling”.

The jobs were contracted out to Liberata, a company which performs ‘back office’ functions for local authorities.

Coun Mohammed Iqbal, Labour group leader in Pendle, has described the development as a “body blow” for the Nelson workforce.

And questions have been raised about how much notice the borough council, which has a working partnership with Liberata for its own back office operations, had had about the job losses.

Council leader Coun John David said he had expected a higher degree of “courtesy” over the news.

MP Mr Prentice has asked Mr Knight, to spell out the consequences of the axing of the jobs for the payment of EMAs to students, and is requesting answers from Liberata.

Mr Prentice said: “The Liberata jobs were announced with a great fanfare only a short time ago. I am in touch with the acting chief executive of Liberata, Richard Webster, to find out why everything seems to have gone pear-shaped.”

Last month, Pendle council’s chief executive, Stephen Barnes, said that the Liberata deal was a “fantastic example of Pendle council bringing more jobs to Pendle.”