IT'S D-Day for Rossendale Council facilities next Tuesday when councillors will face tough decisions on what services will have to be cut.

The town hall in Rawtenstall looks certain to be packed for the corporate policy committee meeting which begins at 7pm.

People in Rossendale have already been campaigning to preserve their facilities, before the council announces what it plans to axe.

The council, formed from the amalgamation of Rawtenstall, Haslingden and Bacup Borough Councils and part of Ramsbottom Urban District Council and Whitworth, supports three swimming pools, four public halls, three town markets, Rossendale Museum and a string of neighbourhood offices.

Leaders are staying tight-lipped over what facilities will face the chop, but they have promised a full and frank discussion on the proposals.

Deputy leader Coun David Hancock said: "The closures will be announced at the meeting and we will not be publicly discussing what is proposed until that date."

It will be the first corporate policy committee for the council's new interim chief executive James Gravenor, who has been brought in as a troubleshooter to try to turn the council around in six months.

A draft corporate governance inspection by the Audit Commission found Rossendale to be the worst authority of its kind in the country for the services it delivers considering its income.

The report recommended a radical overhaul of senior management in the council with the threat that a team from Whitehall might be sent in to take over. The final report has still to be received by the council.

The draft report criticises the parochialism in the borough. It says: "In order to release capacity, the council needs to rigorously challenge the current level of service provision,

"For too long the councillors have focused solely on their wards rather than take a corporate view over the whole authority.

"A strong sense of parochialism exists, resulting in poor services or as one chief officer commented: 'We continue to spread the jam too thinly. We need to do less, better."