PUZZLED Burnley councillors gave the go-ahead for Cajun dances to carry on at Padiham Town Hall - and then admitted they didn't know what they were!

Members of the recreation and leisure committee approved the regular events after receiving a petition from enthusiasts of Cajun...pronounced Cay-jun.

It was only then that Coun Eddie Fisk asked: "What is Cajun dancing?"

Chairman Coun Barry Guttridge admitted he didn't know and Coun Pat Bennett said it was apparent several members of the committee were also baffled.

Leisure in Burnley officer David Peirce explained that Cajun was traditional dancing from the American state of Louisiana.

He said: "It is not line dancing. The couple hold on to one another and that may be part of the attraction."

Cajun dancing, originated by 'Arcadian' French-speaking swamp dwellers, came to Padiham Town Hall in 1992 with some success. Mr Peirce said Padiham was an ideal venue with a large sprung dance floor and adjacent bar.

"Over the following two years we developed the venue and the Cajun audience by running weekly dance workshops with accredited instructors.

"By now we were holding an average of one a month and scheduling dances so as not to compete with neighbouring events in Manchester, Bradford and Accrington."

Since then numbers have gone down from 150 to 100 and from a profit situation to a loss of £50 an event, due also to increasing costs of hiring the bands.

A 70-name petition sent by workshop instructor Leslie Dormer called for more Cajun dances at Padiham.

The committee agreed, but it will cost the dancers an extra £1.25, with admission increased to £7.75, to break even.

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