A FORMER councillor who promised to print his own account of trouble leading up to the Burnley riots has unveiled his report.

Former independent member of Burnley Borough Council Harry Brooks launched the report entitled A Town Betrayed almost exactly a year after some of the worst violence ever seen in the town.

It has been strongly condemned by Burnley Council and Peter Pike MP, both criticised in the publication.

In the personal account Mr Brooks details the disturbances as well as reflecting on his time as a member of Burnley Council, which he describes as a failed authority.

Mr Brooks also said the task force set up to investigate the disturbances was determined to ignore the dangers of positive discrimination.

He criticised the provision of money for a translation unit instead of using cash to develop the use of English by immigrants.

Today Mr Brooks, who represented Rosehill Ward for ten years before quitting the council last year for personal reasons and spent more than £2,000 printing the report, said he felt compelled to write his own version of events. He said: "Essentially, someone had to put it on record what had been going on in Burnley in the years leading up to the riots.

"This is a constructive exercise to help learn the lessons of the recent past. If we do not, we have no chance of improving in the future."

In the report, Mr Brooks highlights regeneration efforts by successive Governments which he describes as 'inadequate in scale and badly directed'.

Of the task force report Mr Brooks claims problems outlined were already well known.

Discussing his time on the council he documents what he describes as the council's disastrous financial performance on service provision and the fact that many services were transferred to outside contractors.

Mr Brooks also claimed resources were fairly distributed in the town, Burnley Wood, a terraced house area with a respectable history which is now in a state of neglect, had been neglected and allegations of voting irregularities and abuse in Daneshouse ward had never resulted in prosecutions.

Mr Pike said: "I feel very sorry for him and I certainly don't attempt to stoop to his level.

"It does not make a single positive contribution which is relevant to the public in 2002.

"I think he also fails to recognise what is involved in the life of an MP. In my opinion it should be thrown in the rubbish bin."

A Burnley Council spokesperson added: "This personal publication does little to help take Burnley forward.

"It is backward looking, it is not constructive and it adds little to the important debate we are having right now about the future of the borough.

"The council and its many partners remain fully committed to implementing the task force recommendations and is working hard to ensure the best for all the people of Burnley.

"Mr Brooks is entitled to his opinions but they do little to benefit Burnley at this point in time."

The report has been distributed by Mr Brooks to key members of the Government, including all cabinet members, as well as members of Lancashire County Council, Burnley Borough Council, Lancashire Police and housing associations in the area.

REPORT: Former Councillor Harry Brooks