HIGHWAYS chiefs at Blackburn Town Hall are asking for more than £300,000 extra to cover an unexpected set of compensation claims.

Council bosses inherited the claims from Lancashire County Council when Blackburn with Darwen Council became a unitary authority in April and took over responsibility for roads.

They set aside £200,000 to deal with the claims from people who are entitled to compensation for the effects of road building projects which have either gone ahead or been proposed.

It has since emerged that claims this year amount to far more than expected.

Council officers say they have already begun negotiations with Lancashire County Council for financial help in meeting bills which had previously been County Hall's responsibility.

Blackburn with Darwen's regeneration committee has also asked for extra cash from council finance chiefs to make up the shortfall.

Some of the claims for cash date back to the building of Barbara Castle Way from former home owners and businesses who lived where the road now runs. There are also claims from residents living in the line of the next phase of that road, from Preston New Road to Montague Street.

Other claims relate to the proposed Furthergate link between Harwood Street and the Whitebirk Roundabout and the road from the Eanam roundabout to Harwood Street.

Council technical services director Alan Peake said: "The county council set aside £800,000 each year for claims of this kind and found through experience that was enough.

"So we thought when we considered this that a quarter of that sum would cover us for Blackburn and Darwen.

"But after three months it is apparent that for this particular year that amount will not be enough, which is why we have had to ask for more money."

Blackburn and Darwen highways chiefs are awaiting a Government White Paper, to be released soon, which will proposed guidelines for such issues nationally.

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