ALLOWANCES for councillors could triple and the leader could receive more than £6,000 extra after members approved recommendations by an independent panel to bring Pendle up to the national average.

A report into the current rate of allowances showed Pendle among the lowest in the country.

Most councillors spend on average at least 50 to 60 hours a month working on behalf of their wards, with chairmen of the committees and the council leader working even longer.

The panel of local people from the private, public, health, voluntary and media sectors, surveyed all the authorities which had reviewed their structure..

Philip Mousdale, council secretary and solicitor, said: "The report shows there are only two or three below us and they are very small authorities. We are the lowest of the nine in Lancashire with Burnley a bit higher and Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley considerably so."

Some members at the full council meeting believed the rises should have been filtered in gradually but there was a majority vote to give the go-ahead. These included the basic allowance paid to councillors in Pendle rising from £1,000 to £3,000 per year. The national average currently stands at around £3,122. The special responsibility allowances, which are paid to the council leader and councillors who chair committees or are members of the council's executive, could range from £500 to £8,000 per year.

Pendle's council leader Coun Azhar Ali receives only £1,800. The national average is £8,454.

The allowances were accepted as from April 1, 2002, and a bid will be made to the government to cover the cost of the scheme in 2002 and 2003.

Coun Jo Belbin said: "Tripling the budget for allowances in one year is unacceptable. We are here for what we can give, not get."

Coun Rosemary Carroll said: "I don't agree with it. The rise is far too much. If we were working in the private sector there would be no way we would get such an increase in one year."

A new allowance for dependent/child care is also being recommended. It pays £3 per hour towards the cost of a carer during time spent by councillors at meetings. This would apply to those with children or other dependants, such as elderly parents.