BLACKBURN with Darwen's Liberal Democrat leader today claimed six Labour defectors were poised to return to the party - two weeks after walking out.

The move came as a member of the newly-formed independent group claimed they had received an apology over the dispute which prompted the split.

Lib Dem boss, Coun Paul Browne, made the claim after saying the six councillors were about to turn their backs on opposition coalition plans.

His group were expected to join forces with the Conservatives and the former Labour councillors to take control of the borough.

But today Coun Browne admitted for the first time that he thought the deal - which would oust Labour as the controlling party for the first time in 21 years - would fail.

Labour leader Coun Kate Hollern declined to comment and Blackburn MP Jack Straw refused to make any further comment until after tomorrow's full council meeting.

But Darwen MP Janet Anderson said: "It is, of course, entirely up to these people how they vote at the annual meeting but we would be failing in our duty as a responsible political party if we were so readily to forgive their irresponsible behaviour."

Coun Browne said today: "They are going back to Labour. They were supposed to meet with my group last night and never turned up, so that tells me everything.

"I'm very disappointed but I have to concede that Labour will probably be back in power.

"They told us they had ripped their membership cards up and that there was no way they would ever go back to Labour. They cannot be trusted."

The votes of the defectors, who quit the Labour group days after the elections on June 10, might decide who runs the borough for the next two years when full council meets tomorrow.

The split came after Labour said Coun Mahfooz Hussain would lose his position as portfolio holder for education on the ruling executive. But the defectors claimed they had been blamed for former council leader Sir Bill Taylor losing his seat in Audley, a predominantly Asian ward. Yusuf Jan-Virmani (Audley), Iftakhar Hussain (Bastwell), Parwaiz Akhtar (Bastwell), Mahfooz Hussain (Bastwell), Salim Mulla (Queen's Park) and Faryad Hussain (Queen's Park) were expected to join forces with Tories and Lib Dem councillors.

But weekend talks between Labour officials, including Jack Straw MP and Asian peer Lord Adam Patel, and the six breakaway councillors could mean a vote at a full council meeting tomorrow will go the other way.

Tory leader, Coun Colin Rigby, and his Coun Browne were confident of forming a three-way coalition with the defectors. But the six claim they have still not decided which side to back.

Coun Jan-Virmani said: "Labour have apologised to the newly-formed independent group and we will be releasing a statement later today."