RIBBLE Valley councillors have been accused of ignoring the decision of a panel of council house tenants who voted to sell off the borough's housing stock.

The jury of 16 tenants, elected by a panel of up to 50 fellow tenants, branded a 12-month process to decide the future of the borough's 1,225 council homes a 'waste of time'.

Councillors have voted to defer a decision to sell the homes to a registered social landlord after being told it would actually cost the Ribble Valley money to transfer its homes. The move was put on hold after a row erupted between councillors and consultants when it emerged the authority would lose money from the sale - despite receiving £8.2million for selling its homes.

Catherine Byrne, jury panel chairman, said today: "We feel we've wasted our time because councillors ignored our decision. Our decision should have been final, otherwise what's the point?

"The views of the 1,300 residents we represent have been ignored and the consultation, training and visits to neighbouring councils has all been for nothing."

The jury drew up a Ribble Valley Standard costing £10.5million, which is a series of repair works above and beyond decent homes standards. Ribble Valley councillors were concerned this amount would wipe out any profit made from the sale and decided to defer the decision.

Council leader John Hill said: "We took their views into account and are grateful for their work. But there were too many questions unanswered to proceed."

Housing managers met with jury members last night to discuss the tenants' next step.