COUNCILLORS have spoken out against the BNP after the party attracted 60 people to a meeting in Darwen.

The BNP held the meeting last Tuesday at a town centre pub, the name of which has not been revealed. Sixty people attended, according to the party and two witnesses to the meeting.

People who had expressed an interest in the party through its hotline or leaflet drops were invited. The news prompted councillors and the Darwen MP to speak out against supporting the party.

MP Janet Anderson said: "This is very worrying news that the BNP sees Darwen as a real target for its policies.

"We need to make people see that they have a good council that cares. The 'Thrash the Trash' campaign is one example of what the council is doing to make Darwen a better place to live and there will be more campaigns to come, such as the regeneration plans.

"People are doing a lot to change Darwen for the better and it's important that people don't support the BNP merely because they are not happy with what's happening at the moment."

Coun Dave Smith, of Sunnyhurst ward, said: "I'm not surprised that so many people turned up to the meeting, because I think there are a lot of people with racist opinions in Darwen.

"It really is a matter of personal choice as to whether people attend BNP meetings, but they should take time and consider what it really means to vote for them." Coun David Fenton, of Earcroft ward, said: "The fact that so many turned up to the meeting reflects people's worries, because if they didn't have issues they wouldn't go to such meetings.

"I think it's a call for parties to start listening to what the people are saying and nobody wants to see the BNP in a position of power and it's a shame that people feel they have to vote for them to get results for Darwen."

BNP spokesman Simon Bennett, said: "We had the party leader, Nick Griffin, who put in a guest appearance as a speaker and the meeting was generally about us branching out into Darwen.

"We have leafleted some of the central areas and now we are looking at covering the majority of the town within the next few months."