A TOWN hall department has recorded a £250,000 profit over the last year to the delight of council chiefs.

The operations department, which is responsible for emptying bins, sweepings streets and looking after street lighting, has met all its government set targets.

The department is also responsible for cleaning public buildings and looking after the council's vehicle fleet.

The council run department won the contract after it was put out to tender on the open market.

Local authorities also run the risk of losing out on contracts if they fail to meet the Government targets at the end of every year.

All the profit from the last 12 months will be ploughed back into the council and used to fund other services.

Blackburn with Darwen Council leader Malcolm Doherty said: "These are excellent results particularly given the current economic climate. "We have shown that we can compete with the private sector, provide good quality services and give excellent value for money.

"The staff have worked extremely hard to make this yet another successful year and to demonstrate our confidence in the department, we have for the first time this year built a surplus of £250,000 into our budget plans."

Chairman of Operations Dave Smith said: "The Direct Services Department demonstrates what can be achieved with excellent team working across all sections and other client departments.

"One of the major benefits of the council providing services with its own workforce is that any profits made come straight back to the council and can be used to benefit local services.

"The council would not receive these surpluses if we were employing private contractors.

"I am particularly delighted with the success of the catering division which has only been in existence for one year and has already shown some significant improvements to school meal provision."

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