BLACKBURN with Darwen Council has been criticised after launching a customer service awards programme which takes votes from its own staff -- instead of the people who use the services.

Council chiefs are staging a ceremony to recognise the efforts of their staff and show local residents that it is doing a good job. But the staff set to be rewarded have been voted for by colleagues, instead of local residents who have been critical of council services.

The October 9 ceremony has been described as a waste of time by opposition councillors who said the people who rely on council services should have been asked.

Liberal Democrat leader at Blackburn town hall councillor Paul Browne said: "It sounds like they are telling themselves they are great but they should be asking the tax payers for their opinion.

"People will tell them exactly what they think -- that's that they are a load of rubbish. I am not impressed by this at all.

"If I did the same thing with my business I would give myself a ten out of ten for my performance." The positive message being sent out by council leaders contrasts with a recent customer satisfaction survey which found that only 59 per cent of people were satisfied with the council overall.

And a 'mystery shopping' exercise, where the council's customer service performance was examined over the telephone, found that eight out of 11 departments tested had an unacceptable performance.

A similar face-to-face exercise showed seven out of 16 were below par. The council officer responsible for delivering the scheme, Miranda Carruthers-Watt, said: "We have been judged as an excellent council, now we want to give some recognition to some of our staff and celebrate national customer service week.

"The purpose of running a council is to make sure people get good services. We are making sure staff know we are recognising excellence in customer service."

But, she insisted, there was no need to ask the public. "We already get huge amounts of feedback from members of the public but these awards are really about recognition of work and achievements.

"The idea was to raise the awareness of the sorts of services we provide."

Conservative leader Coun Colin Rigby said he understood why people had reservations about the scheme. "Internally there is a problem with staff morale and I think this is an attempt to remedy that," he explained

Members of the council's housing needs and sewer cleaning teams are among those vying for the award.

Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, Sir Bill Taylor, and the executive member for citizens and consumer rights, Coun Frank Connor, were unavailable for comment as the Lancashire Evening Telegraph went to press.