COUNTY hall bosses were today coming under fire after the cost of a Nelson one-stop shop spiralled to £283,000 over budget.

A report into the circumstances surrounding the purchase and renovation of a shop in Nelson town centre found that building costs rocketed past Lancashire County Council estimates.

And officers have now used money earmarked for the under-pressure education budget to pay for the work. The report blames "inflation in building costs" for part of the rise in costs for the information shop for youngsters.

At the end of 2002 firms were invited to tender for work to transform the former furniture shop in Scotland Road, but when estimates came back they were much higher than Lancashire County Council's property group's calculations.

The original cost was estimated at £328,000, but the actual cost rose to £611,000. County Hall spent £63,000 buying the three-storey building, £456,000 on building works, £49,000 on fixtures and fittings and £43,000 on fees.

That meant County Hall finance officers had to find money to cover the extra costs incurred. Money has already been taken from its education and cultural services programme and £109,000 will be deducted from a "contingency" fund. Bosses at county hall have not been able specify exactly what will be lost as a result of the cuts.

Work began in 2003 but the shop has still not opened its doors to youngsters. The building is now almost complete and the bulk of the furniture has been moved in, five years after the project first first began to take shape.

Pendle County Councillor David Whipp, who has been a vocal critic of the way the Youth and Community Service was run, said it was now facing "swingeing cuts" as a result of the cash problems.

Speaking after a county council cabinet meeting on Monday, Coun Whipp said: "They have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds, it is still not open and there is a danger of it becoming a big white elephant."

Traders in Nelson were also unhappy about the information shop and many objected to it at the planning stage because they were worried about the amount of non-retail stores in the town centre.

Florist Anne Graham said: "The whole thing has been shocking, absolutely shocking and we are appalled by it."

Paul Butler, who runs a store in Scotland Road, added: "They have spent an obscene amount of money on it. If it was a private venture no-one would consider spending that amount of money."

The revelations about the information shop's spiralling cost come months after it was revealed the Youth and Community Service had overspent by £560,000.

In March Coun Whipp claimed an action plan to claw back the money was making it hard for the service to recruit staff and youths were being forced out of clubs back on to the streets.

At Monday's cabinet meeting County Council leader Hazel Harding said the service's budget was back in line and accused Coun Whipp of not getting his facts right.

Coun Harding said: "You have been giving out misinformation consistently which is totally wrong. A budget was over spent, it is now back in line."

However, Clive Grunshaw, the county council's cabinet member for adult services, admitted there had been a "systematic failure in the monitoring of the youth service".