A POOL of 500 local residents could be called in to give opinions on policies and help council bosses make decisions about the future of Blackburn and Darwen.

The idea is one of several being pursued at Blackburn town hall to try to increase the involvement of citizens in the council's work.

It would involve getting in touch with more than 500 people who have no connections with politics or the council and sounding them out on council policies.

The "Control Group" as it would be called would be made up of a cross-section of people in Blackburn and Darwen.

Plans are still at the early stages but the council has already embarked on a series of other initiatives to try to increase involvement.

Ongoing household and leisure surveys have asked people what policies they think the council should be pursuing.

And students at Blackburn College have been asked what would be most likely to get them to vote.

There are also proposals to set up issue-based forums of local people on topics such as drug misuse, poverty and crime.

Steve Gallagher, the council's Community and Personal Services Executive Director, said: "Unless we get more involvement from the people we represent the risk of getting things wrong is far greater."

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