COUNCIL bosses turned down a Government request to house an emergency asylum seeker centre in Blackburn, it was revealed today.

All councils which have contracts with the National Asylum Support Service to house asylum seekers have been asked to consider allowing a dispersal centre to be built in their area.

Under new proposals being drawn up by the Home Office, asylum seekers would be whisked to one of the centres as soon as they handed themselves over to the authorities on arrival in the UK.

Once their details had been processed, more permanent housing would be found for them elsewhere within the region.

Several high-profile cases of private firms buying up hotels in the south of Britain to use as asylum seeker centres, only to halt their plans in the face of stiff public opposition, prompted the Government to ask around the councils it has contracts with.

In East Lancashire, only Blackburn with Darwen has a recognised contract to support up to 700 asylum seekers, of which 123 are placed in accommodation by the council. The remaining 577 go into private landlord accommodation, but with the knowledge of the council.

Miranda Carruthers-Watts, assistant director of rights, advice and entitlements, said: "We were approached by the Government but have said no.

"The idea is that a network of hubs is set up around the country where asylum seekers initially go. After several days they are then moved on to other areas near to the hub.

"The idea is to reduce pressure in the south where most asylum seekers go when they first arrive but we did not think Blackburn was a suitable place for such a centre."

The council and Government last locked horns over the asylum issue last summer when figures showed there were nearly 200 more asylum seekers in the borough than there were supposed to be.

With the backing of Jack Straw and Janet Anderson, the borough's two MPs, the council wrote to Home Secretary David Blunkett demanding that no more were be sent to the borough until the figure dropped below the agreed 700.

An asylum seeker dispersal centre in the borough would have led to hundreds of would-be immigrants passing through the borough.

Ultimately, the Government could insist on a centre being built in the borough, but because that would be likely to annoy local people and result in protest, that is being treated as a last resort.

Coun Maureen Bateson, executive member for citizen and consumer affairs, said: "The figures we have for April is that there are 561 asylum seekers in the borough, of which we are housing 80.

"We receive money from the Government to support the asylum seekers and the money continues to be paid to us and to the landlords even when some of the places are empty."

Most recent figures published by the Government are for the three months ending December 2002.

They show that, for the first time, private landlords -- which also have contracts with NASS to provide homes for asylum seekers -- have placed asylum seekers in Hyndburn.

A total of 15 are recorded as living there.

In Burnley, 55 are in private rented accommodation, down from 90 last summer, while Pendle has 75, down from 65 listed as living in Nelson during last summer.