BURNLEY councillors have decided against a trust taking over the running of most of the town's leisure facilities including the Mechanics, Thompson sports centre and Padiham pool.

The decision has been taken after a near two year long £70,000 investigation.

Independent group co-ordinator Harry Brooks commented: "What an expensive way to decide not to do something, especially in view of the council's pressing budgetary situation."

Conservative group leader Peter Doyle told the full council: "We are being recommended not to proceed with a leisure trust but unfortunately this council has already spent £70,000.

"Why did the chairman not call for a complete financial projection at the start of discussions which would have resulted in the same decision being reached saving the council tax payers a substantial proportion of the money spent?

"Why did we have to spend so much money?" Recreation and leisure chairman Barry Guttridge said they had to make sure that it would have been the right thing for the town.

Certain procedures including an expensive legal framework had to be gone through and that was why it had taken two years.

Coun Doyle said he believed the decision had been taken virtually entirely on financial grounds. The council would have had to commit itself to millions of pounds in subsidy over 15 years.

Council leader Stuart Caddy said they had been looking at potential savings of £200,000 a year. That figure was not going to be met so a decision had to be made.

He said: "I believe we have taken the right decision, you cannot see what is going to be in the future, it was just one of those things."

Resources committee chairman Peter Kenyon said they had been looking at potential savings and pointed out that a leisure trust was now operating at Pendle Council.

It turned out at the end of the day that what had seemed to be significant financial advantages were not so. The committee had made exactly the right decision.