COUNCILLORS who overclaimed on their expenses have been told they do not need to repay the full amount owed.

A report by government officials into the repeated overclaiming of council allowances has decided that £17,400 does not need to be repaid by councillors even though it was paid out in error.

A further £2,900 does, however, need to be paid back, after deputy prime minister John Prescott's office decided councillors could not expect to claim for some meetings.

Hyndburn Council was rocked last year when claims were made that members of the new Conservative cabinet had been taking allowances for the one party meeting -- something which isn't allowed under local government law. An investigation revealed that wide-spread overclaiming dated back to 1996 at the earliest and was due to the fact council officers had not been checking expenses correctly. A total of £20,000 had been overclaimed in the last 18 months alone.

Council leader Peter Britcliffe, who last month ordered councillors to repay all the money they were owed, said: "I am pleased the government has acted so promptly in dealing with this and I welcome the fact they share the view that money received by councillors was claimed in good faith. "I have said all along that the payments received by councillors were ones they were reasonably entitled to, and I am glad this view has been shared. I hope this decision will draw a line under this matter and allow us to get on with governing Hyndburn."

Councillors have since been issued with a new list of approved duties, four times longer than the last list. They also been told always to check if they can claim for a meeting and a part-time officer has been appointed to monitor expenses.

Coun Britcliffe added: "This was an issue which affected all parties and I have been annoyed and upset by the way some people have tried to make it a partisan issue.

"Overall, I'm proud to say that from the outset the council has dealt with the issue openly and honestly, and it is to the credit of councillors that they have retained their dignity while this matter was dealt with."