TWO East Lancashire Councils were today accused of putting lives at risk for failing to carry out building safety inspections.

Blackburn with Darwen and Rossendale Borough Council were both included in the bottom ten of UK councils in a report from public sector union, UNISON.

The report, based on figures for 1999/2000, was compiled by the public service sector union and the Centre for Corporate Accountability, a national charity set up to promote health and safety.

They said the public and workers were in danger because "cowboy" employers felt free to flout health and safety laws due to the lack of inspections.

But Blackburn with Darwen Council has defended its record and said the figures were out of date -- and Rossendale Council said the latest inspection revealed it was making progress on the issue.

Hugh Robertson, UNISON's head of health and safety said: "We will be sending copies of the report to all local authorities and other parties involved, urging them to take immediate action.

"We cannot let the health and safety of the public be put at risk by allowing local authorities to get away with doing nothing to enforce the law. Cowboy employers feel free to ignore health and safety regulations because in parts of the UK they know they will get away with it Scot free.

"They simply have no real incentive to comply with regulations because there is no chance they will get caught, investigated or prosecuted."

David Bergman, director of the Centre for Corporate Accountability, said: "The report is the first time a comparative analysis has been made of individual local authorities. It identifies local authorities which undertake the most recent and least inspections and investigations, impose the most and least number of enforcement notices, and have the most and least number of inspectors."

Rossendale Borough Council and Blackburn with Darwen Council were both ranked among the worst ten councils in the country and Rossendale reported no visits of any kind to its 1,540 registered premises.

In comparison, Kennet District Council, in Wiltshire, undertook 1,515 visits at 1,226 premises.

Mike Hall, acting environmental health manager for Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "Up to March 2003 we carried out 1,100 inspections out of 3,900 premises, which involved inspecting every business due for inspection and any we hadn't inspected the year before.

"It appears the figures used by UNISON are old figures relating to 1999-2000. We have since worked hard to bring about improvements and in July 2002 were audited by the Health and Safety Executive and found to be 'excellent'."

Rossendale Borough Council chief executive, Owen Williams, said: "We have recently been inspected by the health and safety executive and their draft report suggests we are moving in the right direction on this issue."