DARWEN residents are urged to attend a health centre meeting in an attempt to end fears and confusion about the town's new development.

As controversy continues over the location of the £11 million centre behind Darwen Leisure Centre, MP Janet Anderson and the town's councillors want people to hear what health and council bosses have to say.

Mrs Anderson said: "I think it's a really good idea to have the meeting and I think that the people of Darwen should take full advantage of it. It offers an opportunity for people to get feelings off their chest and also an opportunity for them to understand the ins and outs of the centre. It's going to be a brand new state of the art building and that will be very good for the town.

"It's also a massive investment that we shouldn't turn down."

The council scrutiny meeting is at 10.30am on Saturday at Darwen Leisure Centre.

Coun Dave Smith said: "It's tremendously important because people in Darwen have been lobbying for a new health centre for a number of years.

"The old one is too small and old fashioned. We need to sort out transport to and from the new centre."

Coun Paul Browne said: "The more people who attend the meeting the better. There is simply nowhere else for the development to go and to throw it away would be a great shame for Darwen." David Brunskill, director of corporate development for Blackburn with Darwen Primary Care Trust, said the meeting would update the committee on latest developments concerning the health centre scheme.

He added: "Designs on the new centre will not be available but we will be able to give a greater indication as to what will go inside the centre and how it will differ from the old one."