COUNCILLORS in an East Lancashire borough were today set to award themselves pay rises which could, in some cases, top 500 per cent.

An extra £40,000 could be doled out to Hyndburn councillors under a new system which would result in members switching from the existing expenses structure to a wage payment scheme.

And another £10,000 has been found to help pay for the costs of introducing the new scheme, which could see the council leader Peter Britcliffe's take home salary rocket from £2,241 in 1999/2000 to £10,000 minimum from next month.

Hyndburn Council's policy and resources committee meet tonight to approve a system of payment.

Each councillor would get a fixed basic allowance of £2,000 plus an extra amount for any special responsibility they hold, such as chairman of a committee or being a member of the elite cabinet group.

And all councillors would be allowed to claim expenses for food, travel and attending conferences if the council agrees.

The deputy leader, Jim Dickinson, could see his money rise from £2,508.42 to £6,000 a year, while the seven cabinet members who do not hold better paid positions as well, may see their money rise from an average of £2,148 last year to £4,000.

Three quarters of the allowance would be paid monthly, with the remaining 25 per cent being paid in two sums when councillors have attended 75 per cent of their allotted meetings. They can only claim one special responsibility allowance, even if they hold more than one title.

The idea of changing the expenses systems came from the Government, and an independent report to Hyndburn Council last year recommended councillors should receive a basic allowance of £3,264 plus large extra responsibility allowance, which would have resulted in some of them taking home 900 per cent more than they currently do.

But in a report to tonight's meeting, deputy chief executive Dan Sherry said: "The draft scheme we have drawn up has taken in more than the commission did before coming up with a figure, including looking at the funding available. The basic allowance is therefore lower than than the proposals recommended to us but uses the same principles."

Councillors were first presented with the proposed new system in November, at the height of the expenses controversy which revealed councillors had inadvertently been claiming too much.

Councillor Britcliffe said: "There was no way our authority could afford to go with the options recommended to us in last year's report.

"We have kept to the principles of the new system but have pursued an option which is more financially viable.

"Being a councillor is a round-the-clock job which can interfere with a day job. We don't do it to be paid, we do it for the community."