DISTRICT councils in East Lancashire have come under fire from the Government for being too slow in dealing with planning applications.

Figures released by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions show that none of the authorities in the area is managing to deal with more than 70 per cent of planning applications within eight weeks of them being submitted to town halls.

And none of the East Lancashire councils managed to make the top 140 of a league table of 293 councils in England.

Planning Minister Richard Caborn said: "I am very concerned that delays in the planning system are having a knock on effect on the provision of new jobs and services in each region and the completion of regeneration programmes." Hyndburn Council was the worst performer in the area with only 37.8 per cent of applications decided within eight weeks.

The council finished 286th in the league table of non metropolitan, district and unitary authorities in Britain, even though its performance improved slightly compared to the last time figures were released. Blackburn with Darwen Council finished only slightly better, in 278th place, determining 41.3 per cent of planning applications within two months of receiving them.

Ribble Valley and Burnley Council's finished joint 233rd, with 54.2 per cent of applications settled in the eight week period while Pendle Council finished 182nd with 60.1 per cent.

The best performer in East Lancashire was Rossendale Council, finishing 143rd with 64.3 per cent.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.