COUNCIL officers in East Lancashire could be personally sued by the public for financial loss suffered as a result of problems caused by the millennium bug.

Local authorities have been warned by their insurers that if a third party suffers financial loss as a result of an officer failing to properly address the Year 2000 issue then the council will not be covered by insurance.

The Association of British Insurers has said that insurance policies are not designed to cover the risk of the millennium because the millennium itself was a certainty and not a risk.

Burnley councillors have been told that it is possible individual council employees could be sued as a result of damage arising out of their failure to deal properly with problems caused by the millennium bug.

The policy and resources committee agreed to indemnify its employees against claims made against them provided they had acted reasonably and within the scope of their duties and responsibilities. Explaining the council's insurance cover, director of support services Susan Walsh said that if a heating system in sheltered housing failed and caused a fire the council would be covered for injury and damage from the fire.

But if as a result of the failure an elderly resident developed hypothermia and died the council would not be covered.

That was why contingency plans, in that event to provide gas heaters, were being prepared to cover all eventualities.

Council officers have been working to ensure that any equipment which could be affected by the bug has been given a compliance certificate by the supplier.

The equipment is also checked by the council. On top of that contingency plans are being prepared in case problems still occur.

The support services director added that a disaster scenario event was also being planned which would tease out any further problems.

It would also be used to test the major peace time emergency plan.

A spokesman for Blackburn with Darwen Council said that some things were insured against the millennium bug and some weren't.

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