MAVERICK former Burnley councillor Harry Brooks today hit out at the task force report which he said labelled him a disruptive influence on the town.

The retired politician, who was on holiday when Lord Tony Clarke's report was published in November, revealed he was producing his own report into last June's riots and his 10 years on the council.

Lord Clarke's report of the task force findings blamed "maverick" members for having a disproportionate influence in the council chamber and contributing to the unrest in the town. Lord Clarke did not name Coun Brooks directly but said: "There is no effective strategy to deal with such mavericks, their behaviour and language."

Mr Brooks has made a series of comments in recent years over the years of "disproportionate" amounts of money being spent on Stoneyholme and Daneshouse and his objection to the council-funded translation unit.

He said: "I think it is a pity that he did not have the guts to name me."

He resigned his Rosehill Ward seat before the report was published and said it implied there should be some sort of "gagging mechanism" for councillors. He said: "We have to defend free speech and the public are entitled to make up their own minds on anything that is said."

Mr Brooks is compiling his own report, which has a working title of A Town Betrayed, and is hoping it will be ready by the end of February.

And of the Clarke report he said: "I don't think it has told anybody what they didn't already know. It missed the opportunity to look into the real causes and problems in Burnley.

"I think the task force has missed out that, in my opinion, there seems to be no recognition that the council got it badly wrong over a period of years from the point of view of positive discrimination in favour of Daneshouse and Stoneyholme.

"Nobody is against or would criticise more money coming into Burnley but we do not need an inquiry spread over five months costing more than £100,000 with a Labour peer as chairman coming from London to tell us that.

"In his preface he says 'I have fallen in love with the town.' I think that is toe-curling and patronising and nonsense. I am sure, despite the depth of his affection, he has no intention of coming to live here."

Mr Brooks said: "It is ridiculous to say that anybody's views have a disproportionate influence -- they can only have influence if people want to subscribe to them.

"There does seem to be a resentment by the majority group in Burnley and their supporters against anybody who is willing to speak against and criticise them."

He is criticised in the submission from the Bangladeshi Welfare Association for damaging community relations. They claim he has been talking nonsense but the press coverage his views have received have "inflamed resentment in Burnley". They also accuse him of, to some extent, doing the dirty work of the British National Party.

He said: "I thought the report was a damage limitation exercise for the Labour Party in Burnley. It is a useful basis for further discussion, but it is only a starting point.

"My report will not just discuss the riots but I am going to look back on my experience of the last 10 years on the council to show where the council has gone badly wrong and put it into a context which may be useful for the future."

Lord Clarke refused to comment on Mr Brooks statements.