COUNCILLORS have pledged to do all they can to improve safety in Accrington town centre, following the revelation the borough has missed out on cash to reinstate the area's community wardens.

And it has emerged that the possibility of bidding for funding from the government was brought up by council bosses -- but knocked back by Lancashire Police who, it is claimed, said they could not come up with their share of funding for the project.

Councillors had hoped they would be able to resurrect the community warden scheme after an announcement by the government that it was earmarking £13 million to fund copy-cat schemes across the country. Hyndburn pioneered the scheme in the 1990s, paying for the project with Single Regeneration Budget cash, but was forced to axe it when it had to start funding the project itself in 1998. But when Hyndburn's Crime and Disorder Steering Group -- made up of the Lancashire Constabulary, the Lancashire Police Authority, Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Council and the Hyndburn Primary Care Group -- met to discuss the bidding, they were told Lancashire Police had no money to match fund the scheme, a vital element needed for any bid to meet government criteria.

They group decided not to bid for funding without the match funding.

Lancashire Police's press office had no comment to make today, but Coun Jim Dickinson, the council's representative on the steering group, said: "Without the match funding, we could not push ahead with the bid.

"We must work together to ensure any future service is sustainable.

"We could not have supported a repeat of the situation we saw before when an excellent service had to be disbanded because we did not have a long-term strategy in place. It is now a matter for all partners to consider what priority should be given to funding neighbourhood wardens."

He added: "Unfortunately, the government announced this bidding opportunity shortly after all authorities had settled their budgets for the next 12 months."

Council leader Peter Britcliffe added: "Officers of all agencies must leave no stone unturned in trying to obtain more funding for additional security in Accrington town centre." Hyndburn First, the council's regeneration arm, said more funding opportunities would be forthcoming in the future and the issue will be discussed at the next meeting of Accrington Town Centre Regeneration Board.