AN under-fire tenants group has welcomed a council investigation which cleared it of financial irregularities.

Now Padiham and Hapton area management committee (AMC) bosses are calling for a full apology from their Burnley Council critics and an ex-colleague they claim made spurious allegations against them.

Burnley housing committee ordered a full inquiry into the finances of the group, which represents more than 800 council tenants, after former Padiham AMC chairman Tony Brankin accused it of misusing funds and spending £3,300 in three weeks.

Councillors threatened to suspend the body unless it came up with satisfactory answers, but last month housing chairman Rafique Malik said the inquiry had produced no evidence of impropriety.

Now in a letter to tenants, the AMC says there was no evidence of financial irregularity despite the allegations thrown at the group by the former chairman.

The letter states: "We also deplore the actions of councillors who backed his wild accusations without finding out the true facts for themselves."

AMC chairman Mark Graham said: "I always knew this would be the case after an audit and full breakdown of accounts.

"We are delighted this has been confirmed by the housing committee and we look forward to continuing to serve the needs of Padiham and Hapton residents."

Mr Brankin, a member of the board of the new Burnley and Padiham Housing Company which takes over all Burnley's council houses later this month, said as far as he was concerned the AMC had not been given a clean bill of health."

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