TOWN hall bosses have been forced to make huge cuts in repair budgets to stop a dramatic rise in council house rents.

The cost of renting a council home in Blackburn and Darwen will rise by 5.5 per cent from April.

But Labour chiefs claim thjat without the sweeping cuts, tenants would have been facing a 31 per cent increase in rents.

More than £1million will be sliced from the housing budgets which will mean further delays in repair times and other cost-cutting measures.

The 5.5 per cent hike will see the average rent for a three-bedroom house increase by £2.53 to £48.22 per week.

The move comes a year after rents in Blackburn and Darwen were increased by nine per cent and is being blamed on a lack of funding from the previous Government.

The increases and budget cuts are part of a package of measures aimed at saving £4.3 million from council coffers during the first year of unitary status.

But housing bosses have also revealed there is a £1.8million hole in their annual budget which has to be filled.

Mohammed Khan, Blackburn with Darwen's housing chairman, said: "It is important that tenants do not have to fund the budget deficit themselves.

"Therefore we are proposing to make up the remainder of the shortfall by reducing the repairs budget."

He added: "We have taken a thorough look at housing stock and ways of making up the shortfall to keep rent levels below private sector levels for what we consider a superior service.

"The philosophy of the previous Government has had the most severe implications for the rent and expenditure of the housing account."

Fees for services such as CCTV security and sheltered services are set to increase along with garage rents, furnished tenancies and hostel rents.

Coun Khan added: "The Labour Government has promised to review the system and hopefully those changes will be felt soon.

"Hilary Armstrong, the minister responsible for housing, visited the borough recently and she told us that a comprehensive spending review was in progress. We hope the effects of this review will be felt soon."

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