HOW to prepare for a terrorist attack on Blackburn is set to be considered by council bosses as they bid to shake-up their emergency planning service.

Blackburn with Darwen Council is set to take control of its own disaster preparations from next April after councillors decided to stop buying the service from Lancashire County Council.

Until now, county hall bosses working at a secret location on the outskirts of Preston have taken responsibility for preparing for major incidents and co-ordinating the response.

Now, four years after becoming a unitary authority, members of Blackburn with Darwen Council's executive committee has backed a recommendation that they should take control of the service themselves.

As well as responding to incidents, the council will have to draw up a series of 'what if' scenarios so they will be able to respond immediately to any incident.

The Lancashire County Council emergency planning team helped co-ordinate all the various agencies involved in the aftermath of the Burnley riots.

Extra staff and consultants will be employed to run Blackburn with Darwen's new service.