BRITISH National Party bosses have issued a "join us" appeal to the second largest group on Burnley council -- in its bid to win a power base in the town hall.

Letters have gone out to members of the council's Independent Group calling on them to align with the extreme right-wing party or to represent the BNP at next year's local elections.

The Independents are now Burnley Council's official opposition, with 11 seats, second only to the ruling Labour Party, which has 24 seats on the hung council, which also has nine Lib-Dems, three Conservatives and one Socialist Alliance member.

The BNP, whose Burnley candidate Steven Smith polled more than 4,000 votes at June's General Election, says it intends to fight for every place on Burnley council in May when all 48 seats are up for grabs.

The BNP letter -- which has gone out to all Independents except the group leader, Harry Brooks -- says that as Independents they probably have views and opinions which fall outside those of local mainstream parties and may be more closely aligned to those of the BNP.