A PROBE has been launched into whether an event held in a community hall hours before it burnt down was licensed correctly.

Rossendale Council, responsible for enforcing entertainment licensing, will look at which licences were in place at Whitworth Civic Hall in December.

A Stars In Your Eyes performance on the night the fire started saw around 250 people packed into the Market Street hall.

A Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service investigation concluded the blaze wasn't started deliberately. It is believed to have involved an electrical fault.

A spokesman for Rossendale Borough Council said: "Whitworth Civic Hall was leased by Rossendale Borough Council to Whitworth Recreation and Leisure in April 2003. No persons were in the property at the time of the fire, however a public event took place at the premises on December 5.

"The building was insured by the council, but public liability insurance and obtaining public entertainment licences, certificates, permits, including electrical and gas safety, were the responsibility of the Whitworth Recreation and Leisure Limited. We will now investigate whether the required licences were in place."

The Fire Brigade Union and the Health and Safety Executive also launched a joint probe after Bacup firemen Andy Jones and Tony Greenwood were injured in the fire.

The officers, both 35, suffered burns under their protective tunics, caused when sweat turned to steam.

The union is still looking into whether it was an accident or if there was any shortfalls in equipment and clothing.

Nobody from Whitworth Recreation and Leisure was available to comment.

The Mayor of Whitworth, Coun Alan Neil resigned as a director of the trust last month in a bid to probe "important questions" about the civic hall.