A COUNCIL group leader has demanded early answers after it was revealed the council's house repair team could have suffered a substantial loss - just weeks after he was told it was heading for profit.

Liberal Democrat leader Coun Gordon Birtwistle said he was shocked by news that Burnley Maintenance Services, the in-house section which carries out £2.1 million repairs on council estates each year, was heading for a substantial deficit for the year to March 31 1998.

"At the last meeting of the housing committee we were told we would at least break even and probably make a profit.

"Now we are looking into a black hole of loss and council taxpayers will have to pick up the tab. It is scandalous." Coun Birtwistle said he was more amazed by the fact that town hall chiefs simply did not know the extent of losses, more than two months after the year end.

"Under the old contract services system, we lost over £700,000 and we did not know the exact figure for six months.

"My party pressed for and eventually got officers to bring updated performance figures to each housing meeting to ensure that sort of thing did not happen again.

"We even bought them a new computer so they could keep a firm grip on the situation, yet despite all our efforts we find ourselves in this ludicrous position."

Coun Birtwistle said he had pressed for a full inquiry at a private session of the housing committee when councillors discussed a report warning them of likely losses.

Council chief executive, Roger Ellis, has already ordered an inquiry into the trading performance and why councillors had not been told earlier.

The report states that much intensive work is going into clarifying the trading figures.

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