TOP-level talks been called in a bid to persuade boundary officials that Bury Council should take control of parts of Rossendale.

But the move has been met with a frosty reception from chiefs at Rossendale Borough Council, who said they have been left in the dark about proposals.

Bury Council leader Tory Coun John Byrne and chief executive Mark Sanders are meeting representatives from the Boundary Committee next Tuesday.

They will try to convince them that Bury's proposal to merge with Haslingden and Rawtenstall is a viable alternative to those published in draft proposals in December.

The authority's idea of a merger with Rossendale was left off the draft list of options for local government reorganisation in the event of voters agreeing to a new North West regional assembly in October.

The three options on the list were for a Lancashire-wide unitary authority, an East Lancashire council or an authority covering Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale.

Bury was named the most improved council in the country by the Audit Commission in December -- a drastic difference to Rossendale, which scored a poor rating in last month's CPS reviews.

Mr Sanders said: "We are delighted that they have accepted our invitation to come to talk to us about our exciting plans for a new council covering the six main communities already in the borough of Bury plus Haslingden and Rawtenstall.

"Bury Council is a rapidly-improving council and the experience and quality we can offer in key service areas such as education and social services is second to none of the other options coming from Lancashire."

Mr Sanders stressed that there was growing and wide-ranging support in Rossendale for some kind of tie-up with Bury.

But David Hancock, leader of Rossendale Council, said: "I have asked our chief executive Owen Williams to arrange a meeting with Mark Sanders to find out what their proposals are.

"We have never been officially consulted by Bury so we haven't been able to debate the issue at committee level.

"We feel their approach has been very poor because the only things we have heard about are through the press and other sources. Our position is still the same as it was six months ago where our preferred option is for the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale option."

Mr Sanders added: "Bury Council is the most improved council in the country and is on the verge of being declared 'good' from 'weak' in the space of just over a year and we believe we have earned the opportunity to have our merger idea on the ballot paper. Hopefully we will be able to convince the Boundary Committee of that next week."