BURNLEY MP Peter Pike has called on the Government to acknowledge that Burnley needs more funding to tackle problems highlighted in the Task Force report.

In the House of Commons he asked Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford: "Does my Right Hon Friend accept that the Task Force report on the disturbances in Burnley in June this year identified that deprivation and housing were the two biggest factors?

"Does he recognise that the report also states that although Burnley has inner-city problems, it is a shire district council and does not have the finance to tackle the problems that it faces and that it needs Government help urgently?"

Mr Raynsford accepted that Mr Pike made and extremely important point and said: "He will know that, having visited the area a year or so ago, I am familiar with the problems that he mentioned, including the housing problems."

He said he had just come out of a round-table discussion at the local government agency which looked specifically at the lessons to be learned from the disturbances in Burnley and other towns.

He said: "We take those reports very seriously indeed and we want to ensure that we learn from the conclusions to help authorities such as Burnley respond more effectively to the serious challenges they face."

Padiham Coun Granville Lord said he hoped that if any money was forthcoming that some of it could be spent in Padiham.

He said: "We have some 20 to 25 empty shops in the town. It does not give a good impression of the town especially now we have our own town council."