ROSSENDALE Council has pledged to honour any commitments for its halls, even if budgetary restrictions mean facilities have to close.

The authority faces some tough decisions in the next few months in order to balance its books and honour the recommendations made in the Audit Commission's corporate governance inspection, which looked into the way Rossendale manages its services. Its draft report said the authority was bottom of a list of 237 similar councils in the country.

There has been a lot of speculation on what facilities might have to close but deputy council leader Coun David Hancock stressed: "No decision has yet been made.

"We will be honouring any bookings we have for places like halls, especially weddings and other celebrations, and will offer alternatives if, and when, decisions are made to close.

"If it is a block booking we would look to relocate them into one of our other buildings. For one-off events, such as the bike show, the Astoria in Rawtenstall would be still available for use, even if a decision was taken to 'mothball' it, because it will not be too difficult to re-open."

The council was asked to send a second response to the Audit Commission's recommendations and the final report is expected at the end of this month.